Forget You
We polish our profile, update our status, and craft an ideal version of our life to share with the world. What if we have it all backwards? Let’s learn how to shift our focus in a better direction with the series, “Forget You.”
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LifeChurch Muskogee
BOLD Speaking
I was doing some studying Monday night before I went to bed and came across a sentence that stirred my heart. So much that I put part of it as my profile status on Facebook which is a big deal because I’m kind of a beginner in the social networking world. The sentence is referring to a passage in Mark 1:21-34. It’s early in Jesus ministry when He enters the city of Capernaum. There, the people were astonished at His teaching specifically at the authority He taught in. Through this same authority Jesus healed many people of different kinds of diseases, commanded demons to leave people, and people flocked to see and hear what Jesus was doing. It was an amazing time to say the least. Now here’s what the sentence I read said: “When the church learns again how to speak and act with the same authority of Jesus, we will find both the saving power of God unleashed once more and a similar heightened opposition from the forces of Darkness”.
I’ll tell you why it caught my attention. I have been thinking about what BOLD Prayer we could lift up for our church. I didn’t just want to pray about surface stuff. I really felt like God would have us pray about something big and after polling a few people it was suggested that we pray about more people’s lives being changed. I mean a specific number. I mean a big number! So I thought to myself, “Ok, God is about life change and He wants to reach people. That’s a good thing to pray for”. So the first thing on my list was to pray that God uses our church as a place for significant life change. Then Sunday rolls around and Craig preaches on BOLD Speaking and this thought hits me. If I’m going to pray for significant life change I have to be willing to get into action and BOLDLY speak to people about the love of Christ. So Sunday I asked for each of you to commit with me to recognize opportunities God brings our way and BOLDLY speak into people’s lives. I don’t know about you but I’ve had a great first day.
After committing to BOLDLY pray for lives to be changed and committing to get into action and BOLDLY speak into people’s lives I read the sentence I mentioned at the beginning. Again, it said: “When the church learns again how to speak and act with the same authority of Jesus, we will find both the saving power of God unleashed once more and a similar heightened opposition from the forces of Darkness”. So here’s what I believe we can expect as we go forward. First, we will find “the saving power of God unleashed”. I think it’s been a long time since we’ve seen or experienced something like this. Back in the day it was referred to as “Spiritual Awakening”. It was when large numbers of people surrendered their lives to Christ and were radically changed. I don’t know about you but I would love to see God’s saving power unleashed once again. I would love to see lives radically changed and I am willing to get into action to see it happen. The second thing I believe we can expect is “a similar heightened opposition from the forces of darkness”. I don’t like the sound of that at all but you have to expect that for every move God makes the enemy will make a counter move. We are in a spiritual battle and the enemy isn’t going to just lie down and accept defeat. I would guess he is already at work drawing people away and enticing them with their own lust. So how can we combat the enemy? What can we do to prepare for what’s to come? I think two things are imperative: prayer and the Word of God. We have to be in constant prayer about everything. I’m talking about a running conversation with Him throughout the day. And, we have to dive deeply into God’s Word, deeper than we ever have before. What we get on Sunday mornings isn’t enough. We have to get into a routine of reading and studying God’s word every day. It’s not an option it’s a necessity, vital for our spiritual health.
I truly believe we are in for an exciting ending to 2011. Let’s all be willing to pray, believe, and work to see lives changed. I’d love nothing more than for our mission “To lead people to become fully devoted followers of Christ” to become more real to us than we ever imagined.
Bold Prayer
Bold Prayer
Susan Spradlin
When I hear the Word of God, no matter the source, I have to ask the Holy Spirit to translate it so that
I can understand it. As an old woman, I have really struggled with this word, “bold”. I think that it is
because I have experienced bold people as “in your face,” “haughty” and “disrespectful.” Then God
spoke to me and said, “Fearless.” Now that’s a word I can wrap my mind around! It’s been 2 weeks
of sermons on being bold and now I get it. The root of timidity is fear, is it not? I am thinking of all
the times fear has knocked at my door and God’s grace and power have overcome that fear. Fear and
anxiety paralyze. Bold and being fearless animate!
Ha! Ha! This old woman is having a laughing-time after hearing the first part of the sermon on praying
boldly. I couldn’t believe Craig’s story of praying boldly in Wal-Mart! After last week’s sermon I had told
my grandson that he should call me and I’d take him to Wal-Mart and show him how to witness boldly in
the store. Now that was a strange invitation from a grandmother to a grandson, but the sermon made
me think of all the times God has given me to speak fearlessly to people and point them in the direction
of the One True Living God. My kids used to hate going with me because “you always have to tell your
life story to everyone.” They’ve learned since their younger days that that is the only story that is worth
telling. People everywhere are dying to hear a kind word from Father to them. The check-out lady looks
tired and I see that so I say, Oh, my, have you had a long day? She says yes and she still has a couple of
hours to go. I say, “Won’t it be wonderful to never be tired anymore. I think that is heaven, don’t you?”
“Why yes, it is.” I will pray that you will make it through your shift and find rest when you go home.”
OK, I know that’s not the Roman Road or the Wordless Book but it is sowing seeds. Every opportunity
is different. It is sending the message that there is a God and He cares for you. I am still waiting for my
grandson to call and I can take him to Wal-Mart for Bold Witnessing Training! Ha!
The most fearless of prayers have been made when I have been most afraid. Having a relationship with
God through His Son, Jesus, makes everything “inside-outside-upside-down.” It is because He that is
in me is greater than he that is in the world that terror is transformed into triumph! Here are a few
examples from my younger years:
I was 9 years old and had just believed on the Lord Jesus Christ and He had saved me and come and
made His home within me. I remember standing in front of my dad and he was threatening to kill me
again but this time I was not afraid. I was no longer full of fear and terrified of his words. God had
removed my fear of death when he saved me. I remember telling Dad, “Go ahead. Kill me. I believe
in Jesus and if you kill me then all the better cause then I’ll get to go to heaven and be with Jesus.”
Thinking back, I am still amazed that God made me so fearless and I was just a child!
I was 14 years old and had invited one of my girlfriends to become a member of the Rainbow Girls (a
branch of the Eastern Star). I was excited that we’d get to belong to this Christian organization together.
But then I received a call from the leader of the Eastern Star in Little Rock, Arkansas. I was told that I
had to withdraw the invitation to my friend to join. I was incredulous and asked why? She then told
me that “those kinds of people” had their own organizations and they were not allowed to join ours. It
took her further explaining to me that it was because she was a “Negro” that she could not be “one of
us.” I was incredulous that I was hearing such a thing from the head lady of this Christian organization.
I don’t remember everything I said to her but I do remember telling her that Jesus would have none of
that from me or her! I was shaking when I hung up because I realized for the first time that “Christian”
didn’t mean “Christ-like” like I thought it had before. My sis and I both quit Rainbow Girls. I remember
that lots of the other girls resented us for speaking up and quitting. I was so afraid when the leader lady
called me on the phone and started ordering me to do something that I knew I couldn’t do because of
God being in me. But He made me fearless and gave me a heart to withstand anger and ridicule and to
love my friend more than I loved myself.
I was newly married and it was the summer after my sophomore year at college. My husband and I
were serving as summer missionaries in Washington. We were talking to people in the park of one of
the towns, inviting them to a VBS and Bible study we were going to have. One person who I talked to
told me I needed to talk to the girl over by the tree because she was a practicing witch. OK, I was really
scared. I wasn’t sure about her powers and if she could do anything to harm me but I just knew I should
go and talk to her about the One Who had created the one she worshipped. I remember getting the
shakes again from being so scared. God moved me to her and I remember, even now, what she looked
like. Her eyes were so sad and she had long blond hair. Again, I don’t remember all that we talked
about but I remember that I shared with her about Who God was. I found out then that God takes care
of the words you say and He gives you courage, especially when you have none and are facing a disciple
of Satan!
That same summer, the missionary in charge of us was not happy that we weren’t doing our job
fast enough. We were supposed to be doing door to door surveys in towns that didn’t have this
particular denomination’s church in them as preparation for starting churches. The problem we were
encountering that was slowing us up was that when we’d knock on doors and ask people to complete
the survey and many would begin asking about God and Jesus and salvation. We were so excited and
would spend our survey time sharing the Word of God and helping point people to Christ who really
wanted to know about Him. When the missionary found out that this is why we weren’t finishing the
survey of the town he told us we were not hired to witness to people but to complete the survey. He
told us we were to stop witnessing and get the surveys done. We could not comprehend what he’d just
forbidden us to do. Of course we prayed together in earnest. There was no question that for us there
was no choice. We knew of the accounts in the Bible were the religious leaders forbid Paul and others
to speak about Jesus but never thought it would happen in our day and time! We knew that if we were
fired we’d have to find our way back from the NW to Oklahoma on our own but we were sure that God
would take care of us no matter the consequences of our choice. We did finish the town surveys but in
God’s way and in God’s time and speaking God’s Words of grace and mercy whenever the opportunity
arose. The missionary was not happy with us but I have to tell you that I still remember the joy of the
Lord that filled our hearts as we followed the leadership of the Holy Spirit. We were amazed that even
the Catholic priest of one of the towns spoke to us and encouraged us to continue spreading the Good
News. I remember thinking how strange a source of encouragement!
My husband and I went to OBU for a “Christian” college experience. As it was in the 70’s, there were
many unbelievers who were on the teaching staff there. I think there was only one person in the
Theology/Ministry department who believed in the inerrancy of the Word – and she just happened to be
the only woman in that department. I soon found out that being a real, believing Christian was not a
popular thing to be in the classroom. I was angry and scared that these teacher’s of the Bible were
saying thing that were absolutely not true and boldly proclaiming that the God of the Old Testament
was a myth, etc. Ok, maybe that is where I get my negative feelings about the word “bold.” I was the
minority in my classes being a Christian and a female. I was very intimidated by all the teachers that had
a list of degrees and honors in front of their names. I was disgusted by their private behaviors which
were really not that private. Jim and I both prayed that God would give us the courage to speak up in
class when they would say lies about God and how He wanted us to live. So, it began, two years of
speaking up not in anger but in determination to speak God’s Word whenever a lie was spoken. I was
scared every time but God was with me even as I was shaking and scared. I had teachers, grown men,
yell at me, curse at me, and make fun of me in front of the class. I even had one teacher who would
throw erasers at me in anger. It was his way of getting the class on his side and brushing me off as a
fanatic. I had a science teacher who taught us that abortion was an option and that we should choose
who should live and who should die. Jim and I fought this fight the whole time we were at OBU. We
saw so many friends fall under the power of intellectualism and feminism. Our science teacher gave us
our final which included these anti-Bible philosophies as part of the questions. I read the test and
determined that no matter the cost – I had an A for the semester – which I was going to write a refusal
to answer his questions. I got up and handed my paper in blank except for my explanation as to why
God would not have me participate in his philosophies. I was terrified at having to stand up once again
to someone so domineering and “important.” Jim left the class also shortly after and I was in the hall.
We had a great time of revival in the hall together as he, too, had chosen not to answer the test
questions. We hadn’t planned this together. It was obviously God working in both our hearts giving us
courage. We both received Cs from this professor for the semester. This was a much greater act of
courage on Jim’s part than mine! That was to be the only C he got in college. I love remembering how
God caused me to do the very things I was afraid of doing!
There are so many times when fearfulness has given way to fearlessness – only because God is please to
make the weak things of the world strong! Ha!
So these are just a few examples of witnessing and praying with boldness – fearlessness in my younger
years. Sometime I would love to continue this chronicle of God’s mighty power through his weak and
shaking vessel! I have to laugh when I read this week’s Scripture that says that the ground was shaken
by their courageous acts on behalf of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I don’t ever remember experiencing
the ground being shaken in any of my experiences but maybe it was only because my whole body was
usually shaking in fear! Unspeakable and overwhelming joy comes from dying to self and obeying His
will in the face of ridicule, harm and danger. I call back to you who are walking behind me in years and
say, you can do it! Believe in Him Who is the Sovereign God of the Universe and your heart. Take no
thought of yourself when opportunity presents itself. God delights in your weakness! Ha! Amazing!
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Welcome to LifeChurch Muskogee!
LifeChurch Muskogee began with a gentle whisper from God. Then what started as a whisper began to grow until after months of praying and listening it was decided to begin the journey of starting LifeChurch Muskogee (a part of the LifeChurch.tv Network).
The mission of LifeChurch Muskogee is to be a modern day version of the church found in Acts 2:41-47. Leading people to become fully devoted followers of Christ, continually devoting ourselves to to the study and application of God’s word, living in community together through LifeGroups, giving of our possessions and meeting needs through the tithe, and worshiping and magnifying our wonderful Savior Jesus Christ. We believe as a result of this mission we will be in awe at the many wonders and signs God will do in and through our lives. Our desire is to have a place where people from all walks of life can join us in worshiping the King. We don’t care who you are, where you’ve been, or what you’ve done, there is a place for you here!