“Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,” says the LORD Almighty. -Zechariah 4:6

As we begin our 40 Days journey, we need to embrace a timeless biblical truth. We can’t. God can. Let’s let Him! Our thought life, our problems, addictions, and behaviors demand lordship. We will serve SOMETHING or SOMEONE. Our willpower can accomplish temporary results, but it’s ALWAYS incomplete and imbalanced. God’s power and grace is the key to sustainable life change. In any arena. But His power comes with a price. Lordship.

Life Church, your 40 Days adventure is designed to empower you and draw you closer to Jesus Christ through spiritual disciplines. It will also root out things in you that NEED to change.

Action Step

Write down and journal THE key things you are believing God for! Pray over them and ask God for breakthrough in each of them by the end of the 40 Days!

I challenge you to prioritize EVERY STEP. Parts of it will not be easy. Yet, Christ is in you and you WILL HAVE POWER to do what He’s called you to do. And receive what He has for you!

During the Lenten season, many of you are accustomed to the spiritual discipline of fasting. I speak to this practice on Day 5, which involves many forms of this practice. The Holy Spirit will instruct you on what is best for you. All of us are unique and different. This is NOT a legalistic maneuver to get God to act as our cosmic butler. It IS a discipline that WILL allow you to hear God more clearly for His direction. For more on fasting, I also recommend this PDF on Jentezen Franklin’s website.

In Exodus 19, Moses is talking with God. It’s right about the time the Lord will deliver the Ten Commandments. Verses 9-10 show us what God was thinking:

Then the LORD said to Moses, “I will come to you in a thick cloud, Moses, so the people themselves can hear me when I speak with you. Then they will always trust you.” Moses told the LORD what the people had said. ¹⁰ Then the LORD told Moses, “Go down and prepare the people for my arrival. Consecrate them today and tomorrow….

The message is clear. It speaks to us today. God shows up when we prepare our environment to receive Him. If you are a Christ-follower, you have the Holy Spirit in you. Like a radio signal, He’s constantly transmitting to us. But if you want to hear Him clearly, TUNE IN by creating a good atmosphere. It means we need to date God. We wouldn’t ignore a girlfriend or spouse six days a week, and then visit for a 30 minute chat on Sunday. That would be an imbalanced relationship. He wants you, everyday. Set apart a portion of your time to BE WITH HIM. Talk to Him. Read His word. Every person is different and your time constraints are different, so your environments will be different. Maybe it’s in your car, at lunch, or Starbucks. Maybe it’s at 5:00 am or at 10:00 pm at your house or in nature. Prepare your environment. This is the first step in hearing God better.

Feel free to drop your questions below. I will check in to see if I can help.

I am SO excited to unpack this message that God has birthed in me. It’s one of those timeless truths that I believe will be instrumental in the long-term health and growth of our body. It will inspire the long-time Christ-follower and encourage the new believer to do one thing: HEAR GOD better!

As a pastor, I often get asked: How do I hear God better? On Sunday, February 19th, at 9:00 and 10:45 am we will hit this head on! THIS IS FOUNDATIONAL! It will energize your spiritual life. I don’t like to go to this verbiage well too often, but I’m using it now: DON’T MISS THIS! And invite your friends, because they need it too. Also, feel free to throw me some questions you’d like me to address in the box below. I’ll chew on them and perhaps use some of them in the series!

I applaud the recent actions of Green Bay Catholic Bishop David Ricken, who took a huge public stand against an outrageous new mandate by the US Department of Health & Human services. The ruling forces religious hospitals and organizations to provide sterilization and abortion-inducing drugs; services which violate religious freedoms. Read the Bishop’s letter here (PDF).

Silence shows complicity. We must stand against this law, which opens up a legal Pandora’s box if we allow government to dictate religious freedoms. Please, let our President and Congress know that this is unacceptable.

• President Barack Obama – CLICK HERE
• U.S. Senator Herb Kohl – CLICK HERE
• U.S. Senator Ron Johnson – CLICK HERE
• U.S. Representative Tom Petri (6th District) – CLICK HERE
• U.S. Representative Sean Duffy (7th District) – CLICK HERE
• U.S. Representative Reid Ribble (8th District) – CLICK HERE
• HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius
  U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,
  200 Independence Avenue, S.W.
  Washington, D.C. 20201
  Toll Free: 1-877-696-6775

When we stand for truth, we will face persecution. For example, just this past week Paul’s Pantry in Green Bay took enormous attacks from a secular humanist website, the DAILY KOS, which encouraged its readers to threaten and harass this faith-based organization.

Why? Because Paul’s Pantry, a Catholic-run food pantry, took a stand against Planned Parenthood, a pro-abortion entity. Paul’s Pantry refused their donations. Let’s encourage Paul’s Pantry and let them know we applaud them for doing the right thing and saying no to entities that perform and support abortions.

Paul’s Pantry
1529 Leo Frigo Way
Green Bay, WI 54302-1163
920-433-0343
info@paulspantry.org

As a pastor, some would argue I have no business getting political. This is a lie. We cannot separate who we are, what we believe, and what we do. When God’s laws are violated by man’s laws, a pastor is to sound the alarm. So I’m sounding it. And I’m asking you, and any church in earshot to mobilize. With your voice. And your actions.

“Master,” Simon replied, “we worked hard all last night and didn’t catch a thing. But if you say so, I’ll let the nets down again.” ⁶And this time their nets were so full of fish they began to tear! ⁷A shout for help brought their partners in the other boat, and soon both boats were filled with fish and on the verge of sinking.

⁸When Simon Peter realized what had happened, he fell to his knees before Jesus and said, “Oh, Lord, please leave me—I’m too much of a sinner to be around you.” ⁹For he was awestruck by the number of fish they had caught, as were the others with him.
Luke 5:5-9
New Living Translation (NLT)

Deep waters at that time didn’t make sense. They were professionals. I imagine them having this mental conversation. Come on Jesus, don’t you know, the fish—they’re not there! We know. We’ve tried. We’re the pro’s! NEVERTHELESS, at His word they did what Jesus said. And they saw the power of God.

Sunday night at a special healing service at Life Church, the Holy Spirit launched Gary Batt, our church staff, and myself into some very deep waters. I battled fear. But the Holy Spirit and His healing power was there! Migraines ended. Backs loosened and set free. One woman had suffered 10 years of pain from an auto accident. Her son told me about her new back freedom this morning. Another man on crutches took a number of steps without them. Small steps but yet a huge step. And many others were touched emotionally and spiritually as only Jesus can do!

Are you prepared to launch into “the deep waters?” The Bible says we are to expect the goodness of God in the land of the living! That’s here. In Green Bay. In the boat, with Jesus! Tell us YOUR ‘deep waters’ experience with Him here. We’d love to hear it!

Men, we aren’t complicated. Every man struggles to balance work, family, and relationships with others. We need to work to change these staggering statistics. At Life Church, we’re announcing Iron Men. It’s not a group. It’s not a club. It’s not a breakfast, an event, or a catchy slogan. It’s an idea. A vision. A blueprint to change the status quo.

Learn more about Iron Men now »

Around the age of 7, he asked if it would be okay if he lived next door. With a smile I replied, “If that is where you’d like to live, we would be happy to be his neighbor.” With a skip in his step, off he went.

Once again around the age of 12, he asked what I thought about him moving a couple of streets over from where we currently lived. The response from me stayed the same, “If that is where you’d like to live, we would be happy for him.” He turned on his heels and off he went.

At age 15, our son declared he would like to go to college out of state and most likely live there permanently. As parents, we received this new declaration with a nod and a smile. Once again, off he went.

In May our son will graduate, and most likely attend college nearby.

As parents we go through many seasons and changes with our children. Some of the seasons are as we planned and some throw us a few curve balls. The Bible is clear in Proverbs 22:6, “Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.”

Our children are growing, changing and becoming adults. Our responsibility is to train them in the way they should go. The best we can do is build in them a solid foundation of values, character, education and most importantly, the love for the Word of God.

What are ways that you are doing this in your home? Please share them below!

The book of Acts is the story of the birth of the Church. Immediately after receiving the Holy Spirit, Acts 2:42 says “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine and
fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.” Vs. 47 “…and having favor with all the people, the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.”

Whether I visit a Bible Study Group, Interest Group or even spend time with a Ministry team, I see one common thread in all of them. I see friendships evolve, I see prayer for one another, encouragement, and care happening in all of them. I see people strengthened in their faith. Empowered & equipped to share their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

⁴⁴ The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure that a man discovered hidden in a field. In his excitement, he hid it again and sold everything he owned to get enough money to buy the field.

⁴⁵ Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant on the lookout for choice pearls. ⁴⁶ When he discovered a pearl of great value, he sold everything he owned and bought it!

Matthew 13:44-46
New Living Translation

Where our treasure is, our heart follows. We learn several things about this parable of Jesus.

• According to Jewish Rabbinical law, if a laborer came across buried treasure in someone else’s field and lifted it out, the treasure would belong to the owner.
• Notice, the LABORER gave up EVERYTHING HE HAD to purchase the treasure in the field….BUT HE HAD TO BUY THE FIELD to get the treasure!

Jesus represents the laborer. The earth is the field. And we are the treasure. He had to buy the field to get the treasure. We are his pearls of great price. He paid it all, through His death, to ransom us from the clutches of sin, sickness, death, and our common enemy, the devil.

We are also laborers. And we have to buy the field if we want the treasure. The treasure IS JESUS! It means we have to buy the ENTIRE FIELD to get the treasure. When you buy a field, it’s more than just the treasure. Rats come in fields. Snakes come in fields. Manure comes in fields. We cannot separate the body of Christ, the church, from Jesus. We buy into both when we buy the field. It means people will disappoint us; inside the four walls of church, at our jobs, and at home. But we can’t have just Jesus and not care for people! We want the blessings of God financially, emotionally, physically, and spiritually but with that comes active involvement in church, God’s word, God’s people, and those who don’t know Jesus yet who we share the good news with!

God is not looking for pew warmers. He’s looking for world-changers. When we chase gold, like the 49ers did in the 19th-century Gold Rush, sometimes we end up with Fool’s Gold. A TERRIBLE COUNTERFEIT. Don’t chase blessings, money, fame or power. Chase God and His blessings will chase you! Pray about serving in the area God is calling you or connecting you. Maybe it’s one of the many Life Groups we offer at Life Church. Maybe it’s to serve in our Community Outreach group, or join the Usher/Greeter team. Or men’s ministry? Or help out in our Life Kids areas, Club 252 and Adventureland or Catalyst Youth?

You have gifts and talents that God wants to use in HIS KINGDOM! Our pastoral staff is ready to help! Contact Ps. Lori Englebert for service in Family Life, or Ps. Mari Ruh who oversees our Life Groups.

• There is blessing in the FIELD!
• There is healing in the FIELD!
• There is hope in the FIELD!
• There is peace in the FIELD!
• There is eternal life in the FIELD!
• Jesus is the ultimate treasure in the FIELD!

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