Strong and Courageous

"Only be strong and very courageous..."
Joshua 1:7

In His words to the new leader of the Israelite people God gives Joshua the lasting words of encouragement to be strong and courageous. Not meant to just be words of comfort for the man set to take the place of Moses, they were instructions on how he was to lead the people to the promise land and through the many tests and trails that were yet to come.

The word strong used here is translated from the Hebrew text as "chazaq" and what is interesting to note is that this word is a verb, meaning it is a word of action. As God is setting his bond with his new leader, the first thing that he tells him is to be strong. It is clear that God knows that this task will not be easy and no doubt Joshua saw many examples of the challenges of leadership while following Moses. Yet God is encouraging him to be a proactive leader by commanding him to strengthen, be firm and be resolute.

The word courageous in this part of the text comes from the Hebrew word, " 'amats" which has similar meaning to chazaq but point more inward to the inner man. it can also mean to make oneself alert or confirm oneself. It points to the notion that a leader must have confidence in themselves. Good knowledge for leaders both then and now.

I walk with this word in my heart, that I need to be strong and courageous in my thoughts and actions.

Taking on God's Challenge Day 4,5,6

Working on a solved Problem?

So it has been 3 days since my last blog. God has kept me and I have come into marvelous revelations about my self and God's interactions with me. 

1. Like to push myself. For example I like to cook when i fast. And the more I fast, the more extravagant I like to cook. I made bread and three kinds of enchiladas the past week and I am working on grocery list for some creole food, wow!

2. This fast is not like the last one I did like this over 15 years ago. I have been fast the whole time since then, but one day absolute fasts, or multiple day fasts like the Daniels fast. It is likely that age is a factor but it is also true than I have gained some weight and so have a lot more to "give" than that first one. The truest thing is that I am stronger int he Lord and that my trust in him to keep me has never failed. I have not had any diminished energy for activities or the think that I have been asked to do. I feel focused and alert. I am losing weight and even with the feeling of hunger, i am not in a rush to get back to eating anything heavy ( well maybe a pecan pie ).

3. I need to do more if I want to grab hold of the the spiritual promotion that I am looking for. I have learned that it is my time that needs the fast, not my body. WOW, did I say that? This is what is meant by working on a problem that is already solved. I already know that my time is one of my biggest problems. I have to find a way to purge it of it impurities.


I have realized that there were a lot of things that I have done through my life that I have not had time to enjoy in the past few years. Baking and Cooking, Meditating and Reading, Praying and Praying some more. I have gotten away from some of the most precious things in my life as an individual. I hope that as I finish this fast I keep that in mind.

I am going to do some checking on that and get back to you. Time Fasting.

God's Challenge Day 3

I lost my vehicle today.

How is that for a challenge? Not permanently, but for a while. In the meantime, I will have to search out other moods of transportation for me and the family. Now how does that jive with the whole fasting thing? For me it fits right in. Challenge is a part of the christian life and the timing of the challenge is often the thing that makes it the hardest. 

Can I confess something to you, I have known this was coming for a while. I have been driving around knowing that at some point i was going to need to park and ride/walk//fly. The fact that it happened while I was fasting to the Lord for a new direction is all the more a reason to believe that God is watching me and is with me through this thing. 

SO, I had meetings today that I still needed to keep and appointments and all the normal things I am supposed to deal with. So today, I walked. It was nice out and I could do that. In few days though, it will be cold. Then What?!

DON'T WORRY!

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

 - Matthew 6:25-27

Jesus says to us, "don't worry about your life... is not life more than food...?" Yes, Lord! The same can be applied to the cars we drive or the homes we live in. This is a strength test. But, it is not a muscle strength that the Lord is looking for. It is a faith strength that is needed here. 

How strong is your faith? Can you withstand the challenges of this world without all of your gadgets and what nots? So I will have to walk for a while, Amen, God must want my full attention because that it who I will be talking to as I go from point A to point B. 

Taking on God's Challenge Day 2

Day 2: I feel strong and alert.  I am aware of the fact that I have not eaten but it does not dominate my thoughts.

A common occurrence when for me when I fast is that like to bake bread. It was something that I started many years ago as a way to meditate while keeping my body busy. I have and would bake at other times as well, but certainly when I am fasting it is one of my favorite things to do. Last night I decided on a Herb and Cheese pull apart bread because it is something that I have promised a couple of parishioners (from sometime ago I might add) and I had what I needed to get it done.  While I was in the process of preparing the bread, I also decided to pre-make dinner for children tonight and wash up the dishes. This whole process kept me up kinda late but I was compelled to complete my tasks.

This is the basis for my writing today on fasting. I have often felt more determination to complete my works while I was under a fast and I wonder how coincidental that is. Jesus tells his disciples after a failed attempt to heal a little boy that "This kind does not go out except by fasting and prayer" (Matthew 17:21 NASB). We know that He was talking specifically about the boy and his illness but there is a much greater application; "this KIND". Is this a reference to person to person healing or something even greater than that. I do not compare my baking to healing an ailing child, but i can see the ties that make them related.

In the days ahead, I will be interested to see of this 'unction to function' will continue or the physical demands become more dominating. Although this is not my first time fasting in this way or for this duration, I am approaching this with new eyes for I know that God is doing in me. Not FOR me, but through me in preparation for a greater thing that I can not at this moment comprehend. The joy in my heart at that thought excites me.

My prayer,

Lord strengthen me past the limitations of my own mind and body. Help me to see Your Spirit all around me show me Your ways that I may grow my understanding of You and my purpose in You in this kingdom of Yours. Amen.

Taking on God's challenge Day 1

There is a saying in my house, if you really want to change something about yourself tell the spouse. Until you do that, you are not really being serious about the change you are trying to make. 

I will take mine a step further and make blog about it here. So... what is this challenge? An extended fast.  God needs my attention in a new way and the way He has asked me to prepare for this new level is through fasting. 

Now, fasting is not new for me. As a matter of fact, I have been fasting weekly for decades but those are one day, 24 hour fasts. There are also the corporate fasts that we as a church do at the beginning of the year, but those are Daniel (partial) fasts which allow eating of a restricted menu. This current fast is to be a water only fast for 8 days and although it wont be the first time I have done this, but its been a while. This type of fast is very taxing not on the individual on the fast, but all those that are around as well. For this reason, you should be sure that the instructions to do such a fast are from God and you should let those whom you love know what you are about to do. I have heard the Lords voice on this for a while now and it is very clear that this is the step I need to take.

The bible teaches us that, "some things only come through fasting and prayer." I believe that there are place in life that you need special preparation for. It could be a new direction in life, a new understanding, or just a deeper relationship with the Lord.  Specifically for myself, I feel that this is necessary for my growth and development for a new level in my life. 

So I will track this for the next week here for you to see, for the future and for me as well. Keep me in your prayers. 

Pastor Alberts

Get Up!

Get Up!

The wife and I were talking the other day about my work schedule that I keep during the day. Since she has known me, I have kept what I called a single dad schedule. I would get up early to get the children ready for school and hang around to make sure they got off ok and then leave for work my self. I had made a rhythm out of it and I knew how long it would take for me to wait for hot water after the girls so that I could shower, etc.

Well its been 6 months since I have been married and my family is situated a little differently and most of all, there is a mom in the house that does the things I would do (better than I did, but dont tell her I said that) so I would just be around till after everyone would leave and then go to work. Out of habit, not necessity  So the thought was, goto work earlier and come home earlier which made a lot if since. But I had become accustom to the morning routine I had. Well I prayed about it, "Lord help me out with this, I want to be a good steward of your time."

So at 5:55am my eyes pop wide open and a scripture was expressly deposited into my spirit. "Wow!" I thought to myself. "The Lord is really doing that thing for me, Let me hurry up and see what this powerful word says to me." The scripture was Jeremiah 22:18

     Therefore thus says the Lord concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, King of Judah: "They shall not lament for him, Saying 'Alas, my brother!' or 'Alas, my sister!' they shall not lament for him Saying, 'Alas, master' or 'Alas, his glory'

Whoa! God?! What happened to the "Holy, Holy, Holy" i thought to myself as I read that wiping my eyes thinking I got the wrong scripture. Maybe i just transposed the numbers, so I read Jeremiah 18:22, you know...just in case (in my Gideon voice) and it reads:

     Let a cry be heard from their houses, When you bring a troop suddenly upon them; For they have dug a pit to take me, and hidden snares for my feet.

As I showered with those scriptures in my mind i wondered, Lord why those scriptures? The Lord answered me this way:

When you asked me to help you get up, I heard you. So I sent to have you awaken, but i gave them additional instructions...dont let him lay there, and dont feel sorry for him if he complains, he brought this on himself.

Wow! Yes Lord!

Manage your time to Maximize God in your life

"In the Beginning..."

And with those three words, Time was created because without time there is no such thing as a beginning. Time tells us when things have started and when things end. It is the first rule that we are held accountable to. In our everyday phrases like "Not yet" or "Now" or "Just a sec" we find ourselves in constant negotiation with the ticking ruler. We find ourselves in constant competition with time too, running late to work, running out of time to take the test, finishing our project just in time and so on. If time is that important to us, why is so hard for us to keep it?

We have watches, mobile phones, cars, buildings, and satellites and even heavenly bodies that keep track of time. Yet we seem to be losing it constantly. We loose track of time in our daily lives and sometimes in our lifetimes themselves. Why is it so hard to keep a mark on something that everyone has but no one seems to have enough of it?

It is in our doing that we find the value of time because it whatever we do, the currency that we must spend is time. It takes time to run, walk, swim, fly. It takes time to breathe, eat, sleep. In any thing that we do it takes time to do it. And because on this current plane of existence our time is limited, what we do and how much we can get done is directly proportional the time we have to do it in. 

How does God handle time? Honestly, I dont think he does. God is immortal which makes him larger than time. Does that mean that he has no concept of time, not true. The creation of all things happened in a fixed amount of time (six days) and he created the method of time keeping that we hold on to today. Genesis 1:3 states that the day and night were the end of one day. And so it is even today that we use the length of day to measure time, but the Sun is one star in the universe that was created by God. He doesnt need our time, but he did show us has to use it effectively. 

1. Plan

2. Focus

3. Deadline

4. Rest

God had a plan for the day, He stays on focus throughout the whole day of creation. He is done with the work by the end of the day and He is done, we see Him enjoy his work. 

Not a bad process to follow. 

Your name came up.

That was the title of the message given by Elder Spence in my church on Sunday. He was speaking from the book of Job where satan and God were conversing and Job's name just happen to come up. From that point, Job was to be forever enshrined in the hearts and minds of God's people as representing endurance in the time of trouble.

There is a powerful message being presented here; the notion that one that was doing so good, could still have bad things happen to them. Another view however, is to see how envious the adversary was over the protection that God had over Job. His words to God seemed to indicate that he had already tried to come at Job but because of the protection of God his attempts to disrupt Job's life were unsuccessful.

We are "troubled on every side" but protected from destruction by the hand of God. Our good works attract more that just the approval of our Heavenly Father, as they also bring us to the attention of those that seek to do us harm. Like an insect that is called to the light in the middle of the darkness so to are the enemies of God's people attracted by the successes of them that worship God in spirit and in truth. It is because of that worship that the Lord watches over us and keeps the enemy at bay.

Great is they faithfulness, oh Lord!

So I have a question...Was Job's faith the source of the story, or was it God's love? To clarify, i want to know which one came first. Was God's Love the reason for the faith and worship that he gave to the Lord, or was it the other way around? Let me know what you think.

3 Steps of Highly Blessed People - Intro part 2

If we define blessed as

• divinely or supremely favored; fortunate

 then we can easily begin to identify people to which this applies. The young King David, Daniel, Paul, the apostles, and many others. Perhaps there are people in your life that you could identify as being blessed because they fit this definition. They seem to fall into blessings that it takes you time and effort to attain. They don't have to look for God to do in their life, He just does. Many times we ask ourselves, "Lord, why not me? How can I get into that kind of favor with you?" Its a fair question, and one that you can ask without violating the commandment of coveting. The secret to their blessed life, is the part of their life that you may not see as much of, but it is certainly there. And you must understand that the favor they receive now, did not come without proving that God is in control of their lives.

Before we get into what it takes to be a highly blessed individual, lets do something else with that definition that I gave you earlier. If we can use it to define blessed people, guess what else we can do with it? That's right, use it to determine who is NOT so blessed. Why is this important? You are trying to provide direction about becoming something that you may not be right now and although you may know what it is you are aiming for, you may not be clear on the path. If you can identify that you are headed in the wrong direction, it will make it easier for you to right yourself and your situation. And becoming a highly blessed person doesn't mean that you can not loose your way at some point and time. Take King David for example, a man after God's own heart and a warrior for God all his life. Overcome with infatuation and lust, he begins a deathly decent into the abyss of selfishness that causes him to become out of step with God and consequently out of the favor of God. This series of events shows us that even at the height of our existence with God, we must still dedicate ourselves to the relationship of God that has brought us to this point.

So knowing that you are headed in the right direction sometimes is knowing that you are not going in the wrong direction. Finding yourself out of favor with God will cause you to stop, take inventory of where you are, and make the needed corrections to what and why you are doing. It is here that we earn and use the greatest favor that God can provide. Favor can present itself in many forms, but one of it most common forms is forgiveness. He has forgiven you, so you have a chance to improve, a chance to change, a chance to do better.

So whats next? Step 1, prayer.

3 Steps of Highly Blessed People - Intro

Pray, Read your Bible, Go to church

This is a blog, that I hope to make into a book because the world is never tired of simple steps to improvement. But because it is a blog I won't be able to go into as much depth as I would like. I would like to know what you think the potential success of such a book might be. If I would be writing something that you would find useful, or if it would just be a part of my one personal library. I have been teaching these three things to my church for over 10 years and what I can tell you is that blessed people have at least these three things going for them, and those that are not so blessed are missing at least one.

Let's just see how far we can go...

Looking over the lives and lifestyles of Highly Blessed people it is not hard to see some similarities in the actions and choices of people that could be universally called blessed.

First, define blessed.

1. consecrated; sacred; holy;sanctified
2. worthy of adoration, reverence, or worship
3. divinely or supremely favored; fortunate
4. blissfully happy or contented

 The first two we will leave for God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, since we don't want to go into the worshiping of man or defining anyone as sacred. But the second two should suffice for our purposes just fine. Over the next couple posts, we will work through these definitions and how they support the principles I wish to build upon.

Why do we do what we do?

Before you eat dinner, do you pray?
Do your children say there prayers before going to bed?
What time is church service on Sunday? How long is too long for a sermon?

In this teaching, Jesus is being questioned about the behavior of his disciples in areas where there have been clear rules of conduct. But Jesus turns the table on them asking them rather about the things that they, the accusers, were not doing.

Showing His greatest power, knowing the heart of man, Jesus goes to the heart of the matter by first dismissing the complaint that dirty hands some how made the spirit unclean. He then points out that there are plenty of things that these accusers have elected NOT to do even while knowing they are commandments from God.

Mark 7:9 - "All too well you reject the command of God, that you may keep your traditions"

So, why do you do the things you do? Are your reasons founded in tradition or upon the place they have in God's plan? Don't misunderstand my intentions here; I have traditions of my own that I keep, but because of the Life and Ministry and Work of Jesus, I am continuously looking for those things that will bring me closer God while seeking to remove those things from me that impede that same relationship.

Choice of the challenge

In the ever changing lives that we lead, one could think that we are as accustomed to change as we are with rising of the sun. Everyday new challenges present themselves and we find ways to deal with them all and make it safely back home.... right?

In reality, making it home maybe the only thing we were able to handle with any confidence and having to face the various challenges of life does not automatically mean that we do that with lots of success. Family, work, church, school, and so on can all present in themselves unique circumstances that require social, political, and mental moves akin to a gymnast. Any one of these areas could require all of our attention, but of course we would not be who we are if we didn't try to overload our plate at the buffet table of life. So the challenges are multiplied and the situations and circumstances of one part of life become blended with the next. This hodgepodge of "stuff" soon becomes "to big to fail" as we become saddled with our own version of King Sysaphis' rock.


Our special word for this problem is, inevitable.

If you are a part of this society long enough, you will eventually fall into line with the expectations and the requirements form the yoke of this world. And if you are unaware of its weight, you could be crushed by a burden that is, fall all purposes, self-made.

An understanding that I would like for you to take from this blog... BE READY. Change comes comes to us all, but it is the few that can navigate the changes that are able to use the challenges as propellent to fuel their ambitions and provide the opportunities sought for growth to occur.

An example I like to keep in mind is about the Hebrew people wandering in the desert. Early on in the journey, they came to the edge of the promise land and sent out spies so that they could see what they were up against. The spies came back and they all said the same thing, except for two, that the land was two dangerous and they were not going to be able to take the enemies. These spies can represent for us the doubters in our lives. Those that doubt that you will be able to accomplish the goals you have. Sometimes the doubter is us, but you have to be willing to accept the truth about the work that needs to be done and what you are going to need to do to get there.

The Hebrew people choose to not go because of the challenges (giants and false gods); that fateful choice, they spent an entire generation preparing only to come back and be asked the same question. How many times have you dealt with a particular issue, got it wrong, and had to deal with that same issue all over again?

Fasting & Praying

Here we are again, blessed to be in another new year and for me that means a new fast to get the year started right. As with years past, my church and I are doing the Daniel's Fast which is a restraint from meats and animal products along with any "processed" foods, like white rice, sugar, soda, etc.
This has been our fast for the last five years but we have normally only gone out 21 days. This year we are are going 40 days of fasting and prayer. I can tell you that many of the people doing this with me were a little skeptical but the level of participation has never been higher. There are those that have committed the beginning of the year fasting and prayer since the founding of the church and then there are those that are fasting for the first time in a long time. There are even some young people, who by there own admission want to "get a closer relationship with God!" by fasting and prayer. How amazing is that!

Now I know there are many that would be concerned. "Is this healthy?" "Is it safe for the young people?" "What about those that have medical conditions?" Well, I assure you that all of that has been taken into consideration and as a matter of fact this fast, just from a dietary perspective, is extremely healthy and has many, many benefits. But you don't have to take my word for it; there is a plethora of information available that talks about the benefits of eating healthy and of removing the processed foods from your diet. For many of those that are doing this fast with me, we are merely encouraging them to do what their doctors and health professionals have been asking them to do for a while....eat healthy.

But there is more going on here than just eating veggies or leaving the ham-hocks out of the black eyed peas; we are pressing in to create a greater relationship with God. Whats the relationship with food and our God? Well it is not food itself as much as it is excess. I will tell you about that in a later post....

Tripping on Waves

"Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. " Matthew 14:25

In one of the most most memorable miracles in the Bible, Jesus walks on water after a night of prayer and after sending the disciples out ahead of Him the day before in a boat. When they arose from there slumber to see Jesus walking across the lake, they were not just astonished but terrified that they might be seeing a ghost (what else looks like a man and walks on water?).

And for as amazing as that seems, that is not the greatest part of this story. The truly amazing thing is what comes next, Peter walks on water too!!! (Matthew 14:29)

Now, realizing that Jesus (the word that was at the beginning) knew what this was going to do for Christians everywhere..."If Peter could do it, then so can I" or is that really the case. I have seen many people give up dreams and visions that they have had because of the difficulties they faced to make them happen. The impossible challenges of opening their own business, the big mountain of debt you have to climb to be debt free, the time and money it would take to get the education you want, and so on. And yet with all of those things, we can see the Lord already out there in the middle of the challenge saying to us, "Come"

I GET EXCITED JUST THINKING ABOUT IT!!!!

"I can do all things through Christ that strengthens me" Phillipians 4:13 and I believe that. What we have to be reminded of is that this is not a free ride. God does not give out trophy blessings that just sit on the shelf. Your blessings are meant to accomplish something and take you (or someone else) to a place they have never been in God before. I tell you now the the blessing of a good job is not just for you and your family. The blessing of graduating from college is not just a personal achievement, it is a goal that is a blessing to many. But what if you never tried, or never attempted to accomplish those things? What blessings would be blocked by your unwillingness? That is why you got to try.

Peter walked on water.....Peter walked on water....Peter walked on WATER! That is amazing, that is God! Yes, he got scared. Yes, he started to fall, but Peter walked on water. And you know what, it was not the water that gave him the doubts, it was the wind (Matthew 14:30)

So that means that the challenge itself can not be the thing that keeps us from success, and even the wind itself wasn't what got to Peter. He was distracted from his task and overcome by what he could not see (wind) such that he was overwelmed but his inability to do what he was already doing. BUT...Peter walked on water.

Those in the boat had more faith in the vessel that in the Lord that was in the middle of the water. And many of them saw Peter struggling and that alone solidified their fear to walk on the water. "If he is going to trip over the waves, I'm surely going to sink", i can here them say. I can here us say similar things today as we compare other peoples challenges and setbacks to out yet-to-be-taken path to success. But I can tell you right now that I would rather be tripping on the waves, than standing on the boat.

Moving Higher

Higher Ground Church of God in Christ in St Cloud, MN held services in its new location on Sunday, September 11, 2011. It was a monumental service, a culmination of years of work by the leaders and members of the oldest African American church in central Minnesota. Not only does this move signify the growth of a church, it also marks the first African-American owned sanctuary in the area. Founded in 2001, Higher Ground started in the cafeteria of a local Jr. High School with 6 adult members and 3 children. Today, it is a church that boosts 80 regular attendees and a membership of over 150.

Given that for any church or organization it is difficult to make it through the first 5 years, it serves to note that making it to 10 years is through no small miracle. Many challenges presented themselves but with the help of God there were ways that were made, and opportunities that were taken advantage of. We are proud of our church and the work that we have been able to do for this city and the surrounding areas.

In the upcoming months and years, Higher Ground has no intention on slowing down or even settling for what it has now. Higher Ground has always been more than a name for us, it is our Direction!! No matter where we are we know that we can aim and attain Higher than where were are. So with this we have our goals:

1. Evangelize to the City, State, and Region, the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
2. Have a positive porposeful effect on the communities around us by addressing the greatest needs of the people: Housing, Employment, Transportation, Education.
3. Empower & Encourage our youth to stop the curse of poverty and the circles of destruction
4. Educate & Uplift our adults so that they have the tools to lift themselves up and out of the things that hold them down.
5. Always Praying, Reading the Bible, and going to Church

These have always been a part of the plan that God has had for Higher Ground, but we re-emphasize that plan so that we are able to inspire those new to us and encourage that already a part of us.

I am confident that in these things we can be successful and in many ways we already have been, but the race is not over, and until the Lord calls us home, we have a work to do and Higher Ground is up to the task of doing it.

Higher Ground Strong,
Higher Ground Proud,
Higher Ground, Praise the Lord


Pastor James Alberts

Honor the Lord with Everything you got!

Proverbs 3:9-10 states, "Honer the Lord with your possessions, and with the first fruits of your all your increase. So your barns will be filled with plenty, And your vats will overflow  with new wine."

Get it? Give to God first and you wont have enough room to hold what will come your way. If you could pay $10 on a bill and you got $100 back, what would you do? So now you got $100 and you pay $10 on that and you get another $100, you now have $190. Because you are blessed you now pay $20 on your bill and you get another $100. You now have $270. You get the point.

The saints would sing this song, "You can't beat God giving, not matter how you try," and according to my numbers, this is right. If you kept this little process going you will have $1000 bucks before you are giving more than the $100 you keep getting. And know God, he has already increased you by then and the blessing comes in an even bigger way.

The best part of this process is seeing the consistency of God. Each and every time you give, He is faithful to give back to you. It is this consistency that keeps Him ahead of us in the giving game. Some days we might not have it, or dont feel like it, or it gets taken from us, or whatever, but God's perfect will is always there and always providing. A paycheck you can count on, now that's God.

The Breadth, and Length, and Depth, and Height of Ministry

How much do we know about working in the ministry? In review of the few aspects of the ministry of Christ, we have a small sample of works that we are able to reference. In these writings we see the establishment of the ministry as He travels from place to place, bringing his students with Him and using the world as a classroom. We also so Christ sowing the seeds of the church that was to continue once He returned to His Father. If we leave the discussion only to the works of Christ, then we would have a church that would be heavy on evangelism and light just about everywhere else.

Truth is, the foundation of the church was already laid before Christ shows up on the scene. The books of Leviticus, Deuteronomy, and later those of some of the Major and Minor prophets provide insight into the structure and organization of a stationary church. This is a very interesting point take into consideration, that in order to facilitate ourselves, we have gone to many of the ways of the old church and in some cases forgot about the other dimensions of ministry.

Jesus, among other things, was the Great Example. He provided for us insight not into things that we never saw, but just things that we didn't do as well. Truly we can say that there was evangelism in the old testament, and that there were miracles and prophecies alike. But the apperance of Jesus showed us that we had become too isolated on some of the aspects of God's desires for us to praise Him, and had forsaken many others. To counter that, Jesus starts from scratch and sets the standard for us to be able to follow.

We have to be able to walk and chew gum at the same time, or we will fall!

So to as the church, we must be able to preach and teach as well as evangelize at the same time, or we will fall. It is not OK just sit inside the walls of the church and expect the sinner to "seek us out". That's like saying that the wheat harvest will come knock on the farmers door in the morning and say, "We are here to be collected." NO! We have a work to do and some have realize that we must present the WHOLE ministry to the world in order that we win the WHOLE world.

Why are we fasting...

Fasting is to be done with a purposeful heart. If there is a point to your praise and point to your worship, then there HAS to be a point to your suffering as well

For forgiveness…
    Daniel 9:13-19
The children of Israel had once again gotten themselves in trouble and now is was incumbent upon the man of God to beseech the Lord on their behalf and as God forgiveness.

As we fast today, we are reminded that we are first and foremost not worthy to go before the Lord and ask him for anything, that we must ask God for the forgiveness of our sins AND for the sins of those of use around us. Daniel could have stopped his prayers with just himself, but he knew that is was not just about himself.

For understanding…
    Daniel 10:1-9
Daniel was shown something that he did not understand, and he has not yet been given the revelation of what it meant. So in order to gain that understanding, he went into fasting and prayer because HE KNEW that fasting would give more power to his spirit and allow him access to God in a way that he did not ordinarily have.

There is a revelation coming through your fasting about your life and it is not too late. You can still get on this train of understanding because we have not reached the time where the train has reach its destination. If you haven’t been fasting, you can start today to receive a little but of understanding.

For Power…
    Luke 15:11-19
Shifting gears, we come to this story because I wanted us to look at a fast that GOD set into motion, not necessarily one that the person themselves put into place.  The Prodigal Son, thought he had power, love, and  a sound mind away from the power source.

He didn’t think he needed to work hard along side his brother in order to receive want “belonged” to him. So he decided in himself that he would take his money and leave. 

But…. The world drained him of his power and now away from his real power source, HIS Father, he had no way of replenishing his supply. He no way of rejuvenating himself, so God put him on a forced fast.

See when you run out of money to buy food, God will put you on a forced fast, and now that he was sitting in front of a slop pin, the bible tells us in verse 17 of Luke 15 that he came to his senses.

You r fasting will bring you to your senses. You will be able to smell what you couldn’t smell before, you will be able to hear what you aint never heard before, and it is in that moment that you will realize what the real source of your energy comes from. Where your real power comes from and mine comes for God.

Evangelism vs Soul Winning

What is evangelism? What is soul winning?

Do you know the difference, or is there one? There are schools of though that actually say that these are one in the same. But I would actually say that this is very far from the truth.

Evangelism is the preaching or activity of spreading the Gospel while soul wining is a subset of the evangelistic experience. At the beginning of His ministry, Jesus selected his disciples and in that process brought them into acceptance that He was indeed the Christ. He one their soul first, then he began to evangelize to them. A process that took some three years and even then it did not fully win over all of them (think Judas).

Soul winning is the sharing of the message of Jesus Christ for the purpose of saving one's soul. "Do you believe Jesus died on the cross for your sins? Do you believe that he hung, bled, died, and rose again on the 3rd day?" These non-trivial questions are the hallmark of the soul-winning experience and lay the ground work that the Holy Ghost to enter into the heart of the sinner so that they may be saved. Is this evangelism?

I think there are correlations that between these two but when compared side by side, where soul winning stops, evangelism is just getting started. In his best selling book, "The Master Plan of Evangelism", Robert Coleman points out some eight crucial processes of evangelism that Jesus employed to not only save the men he called,  but to prepare them to be disciples and later apostles and preachers. Jesus poured into these men a part of himself each and every day of the course of years and when he was gone, they had a really good idea of what to do because they could answer the axiom, "What Would Jesus Do?" They were with him long enough to know the answer to that question.

My concern in this day in age is that we don't confuse the work of an evangelist with that of a soul winner or vice-versa. Evangelism takes time but done correctly can leave the lasting effect that I think we are really looking for in the people that we are ministering to.

We have arrived.....

Greetings and salutations in the name of the Jesus!

Welcome to the electronic home of Pastor James Alberts II (blogging). In the coming days and weeks, I will be uploading and writing about various subjects and topics of our day in age. In many cases these will be about and because of my religious perspective on the world in which we live and operate. HOWEVER, i will promise you that from time to time there shall be times when the posts will be abstract, even detached, from the world of religion as you may have come to know it. I aim to shock, just as much I as aim to educate any an all that read and partake of my ramblings. I hope that we can take this journey together and grow with to a Higher Understanding of all things around us....