If I fail to communicate this word clearly I will attempt to do it again until I get it right.

What the Bible says about sowing and reaping:

Psalm 1 – Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.  But his delight is in the law of the Lord and on his law he meditates day and night.  He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose lead does not wither.  Whatever he does prospers.

Proverbs 3:1 – My son do not forget my teaching, but keep my commandments in your heart for they will prolong your life many years and bring you prosperity.

Joshua 1:8 – Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it.  Then you will be prosperous and successful. 

James 1:22 – Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says… But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it – he will be blessed in what he does.

Proverbs 7:1 – My son, keeps my words and store up my commands within you.  Keep thy commands and you will live, guard my teaching as the apple of your eye.  Bind them on your fingers; write them on the table of your heart.

Hosea 4:6 – my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge.

“SEED POTATOES ARE IN” – God speaks to me through a sign at the Webster Farm supply near my home.

Luke 8:5-16 – A farmer went out to sow his seed…

Mark 4:26-27 – This is what the Kingdom of God is like, a man scatters seed on the ground…

Proverbs 11:24 – One man gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty.

Galatians 6:7 – Do not be deceived; God cannot be mocked.  A man reaps what he sows.

2 Corinthians 9:6 – Remember this; Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.  Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

Matthew 13:31 – The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field.  Though it is the smallest of all your seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and perch in its branches.

Isaiah 55:10 – As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so that my word that goes out from my mouth. It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

How does this relate and apply to us today?

The challenges of our economy are great.

The path of our church is laid out.

Much has changed in the past year since we moved out of our comfort zone.

The Warehouse Church has grown and has many purposes and each of them carry a price both laboriously and financially.  We are expanding this church in every direction.

With this comes a great burden for help.  Help in doing the work and help in funding the work.

As the leadership continues to seek God’s guidance for this direction we are trying to find the Mind of Christ in what we should do.

At a recent staff meeting I announced that the Lord had said to me clearly…share the burden.  We deal with the lack of enough resources to fully fund the ministries of this church and those that we are committed to on almost a daily basis.  There is only so much we can do without coming to you for help.

For years we have always put finance on the back burner.  I have not been obedient to God’s word by teaching what he has written about finances.  Last year I taught on God’s plan for tithing.

I have regretted about not instructing the people in our church body on the principles of sowing and reaping and as a result many today have financial short falls and many suffer.

When I read the sign, Seed Potatoes are IN, I knew God was showing me something.  It did not come to me at first but I knew to save the thought.

I did some research on seed potatoes and how to grow potatoes.

Here is some of what I found:

__it takes good seed potatoes to produce a good crop.
__you cut a seed potato in pieces with at least 2 eyes per piece.
__you need good loamy soil.
__adequate watering.
__adequate fertilizing.
__some protection from disease.
__and when the buds have flowered on the potato plant you harvest carefully.

1 pound of seed potatoes yields from 15 to 25 pounds of potatoes.

Some are to be eaten,
Some are to be given away,
Some are to be saved as seed potatoes for the next crop.

I felt the Lord tell me it is time for our people to sow financially into the kingdom.  I felt the challenge that if we would invest above and beyond our tithe he would give us enough to live on and enough to bring into the storehouse to sow again.

For a lot of people sowing is one of the first things that gets cut back when money becomes tight.  

Malachi 3 tells us of the blessing the father has on tithing and on offerings.

The potatoes are symbolic of our sowing into the Kingdom.  God says in Malachi 3:10 to test me in this and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have enough room for it.

HOW MANY OF YOU ARE TESTING GOD IN THIS SOWING?

How many of you need a blessing poured out from Heaven?

For most, you are surely doing as much with your own hands as possible.  We need and will even need God’s blessings more in the coming days.

What I have done is buy 50 pounds of red seed potatoes and have divided them up into 50 bags.  25 bags have $100 written on them and 25 bags have $50.  This is just a beginning but I believe the goal God has given me is 2500.00 a month to be brought into the church to fund the additional costs of the new building but to free up other funds to do the things that we are to do in and through the building.

This past Wednesday I was doing my walking on the track at the park in Bushnell and I felt the Lord said it was time to sow.

Today I am asking you to share the financial burden of the expansion of this ministry by sowing $100 a month for 12 months if you can.  If you cannot afford to sow $100 would you consider $50.  If $50 is too much for you, then PLEASE consider partnering with somebody else to be able to sow $50.  Just by a little one on one for a few hours the other day, over $500 per month has been pledged above and beyond the normal tithe.

It is important that these pledges are above your normal giving…whatever that is and that the pledge you make fits what you feel that God would have you give. 

So pray and see what God leads you to give and after careful consideration and confirmation begin to sow.

We have pledge cards and they are available at the info table, along with a bag of seed potatoes.

Let’s pray and if you can share the burden, fill out a pledge form and help us fund this church for the next season.

If you have not been supporting the church or doing so regularly, please help us fund everything from donuts to missions.

The burden will be divided and the expense will be minimal to all if everybody does something.

IF YOU CAN’T FIND A PARTNER TO SHARE A $50 PLEDGE…PLEASE SEE BRENDA AT THE INFORMATION TABLE FOR ASSISTANCE.
 
 
I awoke early one morning recently to the words “put the flaps down.”  The words were just hovering in the air above my head.  I quickly remembered watching an episode of” Modern  Marvels” about a Boeing 727 that crashed in Texas years ago because the pilots forgot to put the flaps down on the wings before they attempted to take off.  I got up out of bed and began to ask God what significance this procedure has that He needed to wake me to share it with me?  I looked up the purpose of “putting the flaps down” on Google and found that the flaps give lift to the plane so it can achieve the proper flying altitude.  O.K. God…what does that have to do with me?  “Putting the flaps down” is a procedure that lifts the plane vertically so it can fly!  “Putting the flaps down” lifts me from the place I am at to a higher place.  “Putting the flaps down can get me from the place I am at to a new level.

What is “putting the flaps down” in my life look like?  To a pilot it is one of many procedures he or she does in order to have a successful take-off and the flaps stay down until the plane reaches cruising altitude. 

What are some of the many procedures that God asks of us?

__repent of our sins
__pray
__read His Word
__meditate on His Word
__apply His Word

The “Modern  Marvels” story about the airplane crash concluded with the findings that the pilots had failed to follow the procedures they had been taught to properly prepare the plane for take-off.  Because of heavy traffic that day their pre-flight check list was interrupted by a long wait on the runway.  They got distracted and broke procedure by not completing the important routine.  Because of not following procedure many people lost their lives that day!

Bottom line:  PUT THE FLAPS DOWN!  Do what the Lord asks in order that we may achieve vertical lift from the situations that lie ahead of us!

“Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.”  Matthew 26:41

In the process of researching just what “put the flaps down” means I read an article that concluded that modern airplanes should all have a better warning system that would keep a plane from attempting to take off if it flaps were not in the down position.  Somehow I believe God had me write this article for someone to read who might be on life’s runway attempting to take flight without properly going through God’s checklist.

Lord I pray for this individual or individuals that they may seek and find your will concerning the choices they are making and you will guide them as to what and how to do what you want in order that whatever they do they will be successful in it in …Jesus Name!
 
 
My notes from Sunday’s Message:
Scriptures are taken from the New International Version of the Bible

Colossians 1:3-14
…For he rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves. IN WHOM WE HAVE REDEMPTION, THE FORGIVNESS OF SINS.

Ephesians 1:3-14
…In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with his riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. …

John 5:16-30
…I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can only do what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.

Matthew 28:20
Then Jesus came to them and said. “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to OBEY everything I have commanded you.  And surely I am with you always, to the very end of this age.”

Repent:
Repentance is not merely a change of mind but a radical change in one’s life as a whole that especially involves forsaking sin and turning or returning to God.

Sin separates us from the Father.

Righteousness > being right with God

Romans 3:22-26
Righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.  There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.  God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood.  He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished—he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.

1 Peter 2:21-25
To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example,that you should follow in his steps. He committed no sin and no deceit was found in his mouth… (continue reading)

1 John 2:1-6 …but if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense --Jesus

Isaiah 59:1
Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear.  But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.  For your hands are stained with blood, your fingers with guilt.  Your lips have spoken lies, and your tongue mutters wicked things.
No one calls for justice; no one pleads his case with integrity.
(continue reading)

The Redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who repent of their sins…

2 Corinthians 6:17
Therefore come out from them* and be separate,
Touch no unclean thing,
And I will be a Father to you,
And you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.
*them > the false teachers presenting another gospel

2 Corinthians 7:10
Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.  See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done.

Invitation prayer:

Lord Jesus,
I recognize that I need you in my life.
Thank you for accepting me just as I am.
I confess my sins to you and ask for your forgiveness.
I receive you as my personal Lord and Savior.
And I commit to putting you first in my life.
In the Name of Jesus Christ!
Amen.
 
 
As I was leaving Waterman Hospital a few days ago I noticed the “Thought of the Day” sign that read something like this: “We all came here in different ships…but we're in the same boat now!”  Those words were penned by Martin Luther King, Jr.  I immediately thought of our church family and the various backgrounds that God has brought together here to bring glory to Him.

I was asked recently if we were a non-denomination church or an inter-denominational church and my reply was…we are not out on an island by ourselves wanting everyone to be alike.  We accept people…and we accept them as they are…and we let God mold and shape us into what He wants us to be and look like.  Any given Sunday… right here in our own church living room …you name the church background and it’s here.  You decide what we are!

Isn’t it marvelous how God’s Spirit allows us to accept one another as He has accepted us to bring glory to His name.  I think the love and that acceptance is what identifies us as a living breathing part of the Body of Christ. 

I know there are growing pains in our body.  I just took two Advil before I starting typing this note and I wonder if the pains are physical or if they are spiritual.  The journey we are on is much bigger than a building program.  In the days to come I will share with you some big questions that God has been asking me about what I am willing to do to see His church arise in our community.

God has a vision for a church here in this area that He wants to see rise up to meet the needs of His children and to gather them unto Him.

I thank God for His “Awakening” in our hearts, minds and spirit.
RG
 
A Blog by Randy: 01/14/2010
 
Awakening Fast

Each year when I ask the Holy Spirit to lead me in what to fast I am always surprised.  I can say that this year it isn’t Pepsi or Coke, sweets or meat, or coffee.  I actually discovered what I was to set aside when I got in the car on the day after the fast began.  I reached over to turn the radio on and the Spirit of the Lord said…”DON’T.”
That afternoon I got in Rhonda’s car and a Hillsong CD was playing and I reached over to turn it up and the Spirit of the Lord said…’TURN IT OFF!”  I have had similar situations happen about listening to music at home or watching TV at times. 
I tell this to you as a demonstration of how to work with the Holy Spirit for direction regarding just about anything.
I believe that for this fast God is trying to get me into a different atmosphere to hear Him better and there are a lot of things He wants to share with me.
For instance:  yesterday I spent most of the day looking at churches from coast to coast on the  internet to see the bigger picture of what God is doing in His church.  I watched and listened to two pod casts:  Real Life / Clermont’s Vision 2010 and the Mosaic / Clermont Church’s message on tolerance.  I later contacted the pastor of Mosaic and opened the door for coffee at our mutual office in Clermont, Starbucks. 
Suggestion:  Stop right now and ask the Spirit of God to lead you  further in this “Awakening” fast and see where He leads you!
RG