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As I mentioned in a previous post, I have chosen the word, gospel, to think about and meditate on in 2016.  Gospel in the Greek literally means, "good news." My best definition of gospel is the "life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ." I hope to have a deeper understanding of the word and definition at the end of 2016. Check out previous posts on this topic. 22  But you know that Timothy has proved himself, because as a son with his father he has served with me in the work of the gospel. (Philippians 2:22) 3  Yes, and I ask you, my true companion, help these women since they have contended at my side in the cause of the gospel, (Philippians 4:3) 15  Moreover, as you Philippians know, in the early days of your acquaintance with the gospel, when I set out from Macedonia, not one church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you only; (Philippians 4:15)  

As I mentioned in a previous post, I have chosen the word, gospel, to think about and meditate on in 2016.  Gospel in the Greek literally means, "good news." My best definition of gospel is the "life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ." I hope to have a deeper understanding of the word and definition at the end of 2016. Check out previous posts on this topic. To that end  keep alert with all perseverance, making  supplication for all the saints,   19  and  also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth  boldly to proclaim  the mystery of the gospel, (Ephesians 6:18-19) 3  I thank my God  in all my remembrance of you,   4  always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy,   5  because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. (Philippians 1:3-5)

Here are selected promises of God from Philippians compiled by Kenneth Boa: He who began a good work in us will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus (1:6). The fruit of righteousness comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God (1:9-11). For those who know him, to live is Christ and to die is gain (1:21). At the name of Jesus every knee will bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (2:10-11). God works in us to will and to act according to his good purpose (2:13). When we offer everything to God in prayer and petition with thanksgiving, and present our requests to him, our anxieties are replaced by the peace of God which transcends all understanding (4:6-7). God will meet all our needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus (4:19).

I am continuing to read James Nicodem's book Prayer Coach .  Chapter 4 is entitled, "Promptings."  I look forward to discussing this book with our D6 Dads' groups.  Here are a few quotes that struck me: "Whenever we find ourselves worrying about something a little alarm should go off in our minds. Time to pray! Time to pray! Time to pray!" "How often do I come up with plans when God wants me to come up with prayers?" "This Scripture (Philippians 4:6-7) plainly teaches that if something is big enough to worry about, it's big enough to pray about." "You can do all sorts of things after you've prayed. But you can do nothing of significance until you've prayed." "Temptation should prompt us to pray!" "Lord, I'm feeling the tug of sin. Would you please satisfy the desire that sin is promising to fulfill?" "We must cultivate the habit of immediately interceding for those who hav...

As a family, we are memorizing one Scripture at a time together. This is a way to hold each other accountable. Right now, we are focusing on Philippians 2:3-4. The first simple idea is repetition. We will say the verse several times as we gather together as a family. A twist on this idea is to have your kids come up with an action for words or phrases of the passage. Read through the passage once and then discuss key words. Read it again and have the kids do the actions as you say the word and/or phrases. The second simple idea is making a game or activity out of it. Mitchell is always a fan of this. This week, we have tried two different games to help memorize. The first is to go around the family in a circle and each say one word of the verse until it is complete. When I was a substitute teacher in Iola , they would play a game like this with spelling words. After the last letter, the next person would say Sparkle and the next person was out of the game and would have ...

Today, I preached on the topic of "Prayer Power" based on Philippians 1: 3-11. Paul is writing this letter to the church in Philippi from prison. This section is Paul's prayer for the church there. As I have written many times before, I strongly believe in the power of prayer and Paul does too as shown by this prayer and many others he prays for the churches. This message also served another purpose. Today, was the first Sunday without our lead pastor, Steve Toews . As I began to pray about this transition, I felt strongly that we needed to clearly communicate our dedication to prayer by starting with this message from the very beginning. The more I prayed, the more I sensed God wanting me to preach this first Sunday and to stress the importance of prayer during this time. After the message, the congregation broke into small groups to pray through a bulletin insert that I put together. My hope is that the congregation will use this insert to pray through over th...

This morning, I was reading from Numbers 11 where the Israelites complain about life. Why don't we have tastier food? This manna is getting dry and a little old day after day. God was not impressed by their complaints. It reminded me of another Scripture in Philippians 2:14 which says, "Do everything without complaining or arguing." This is a some great advice from Paul, but sometimes difficult to live out. So, are you a complainer? I tend to be a positive person, but occasionally I begin to complain to myself or to my wife. My kids (like most kids) complain about food and other things off and on throughout the day. As I read God's Word this morning, I started to wonder why we complain (we are no different than the Israelites--we would have been complaining too). What makes us complain? Here are a few things that came to mind. I complain when I feel like I am not getting what I deserve. It usually has to do with being selfish. I want something, don't g...