Be Friendly

Posted on by josiahkagin

be-friendly

We all want solid friendships. Research shows the quality of life increases according to the quality of our friendships. So, friendship really is important to our everyday living. The Bible helps us see that God created us to be relational. We were created for relationship with Him first and then with others. By the way, that order is super important! A relationship with God absolutely increases the quality of your relationships with others.

Understanding these things, many are left wondering why friendship and quality relationship elude them. Solomon, the wisest man to ever live, gave us the proverb that answers this question.

“A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly:
And there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.”
Proverbs 18:24

If we want friendship, we then have to be friendly. This may not come naturally for you. In fact, you may really struggle with stepping out and being friendly. Maybe you freeze up and just don’t know what to say. Don’t give up! With intentional effort, you will find that you can show yourself friendly. I am going to pass along a guide for being friendly in conversation. It is not original with me. It comes from a pastor, whom I respect, by the name of Carl Herbster.

“How to be Friendly and Carry a Conversation”

F: family (husband,wife,kids)

R: roles (job,positions)

I: interests (hobbies,likes)

E: education(school,training)

N: neighborhood (where live)

D: denomination (church)

S: salvation (Christ)

Let’s seek to be friendly wherever we are and discover just how fun it is.

 

They are Watching You

Posted on by josiahkagin

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“I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called…” (Ephesians 4:1)

Paul, writing to the dynamic church at Ephesus, challenges believers to live in a way that becomes disciples of Jesus. Wow! That is surely relevant to our lives today! Sometimes I hear lost business owners relate their experiences of dealing with those who claim to be Christian. They will say something like, “They said they were Christians, but they did not act like it…they were just rude.”  It breaks my heart each time. My first response is, “Lord, help me to represent you in a way that causes the lost to want to be a Christian.” My second response is, “Dear Jesus, help us as your followers to get it together and represent.”

I challenge you to live this day fully aware that YOU are a representative of Jesus. How would Jesus respond to rudeness, to a life shackled by sin, a slow customer service line or an undercooked meal at the restaurant?

I challenge you to remember, they are watching you. Let them see Jesus.

Our Purpose

Posted on by josiahkagin

 

vision-night

This year, at Grace Baptist Church, we are our learning our purpose and priorities. More than anything, we want to accomplish the purpose that Christ has given us to accomplish. In Matthew 28:18-20 says, “And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” This is a huge, monumental undertaking! However, as one man said, “Through God’s power, our faithfulness is always possible.” We have a purpose and we must faithfully engage in that purpose.

This past Vision Sunday, I was excited to reveal our public church purpose statement. Our purpose is to engage in the complete fulfillment of the Great Commission of Christ through the power of the Spirit to the glory of God. 

During this first quarter of the year, I am preaching and teaching our priorities—how we will accomplish our purpose. I believe that accomplishing such a God-sized purpose requires that we plan and prioritize. You can listen to the message at our website, facebook or podcast.

Real Strength

Posted on by josiahkagin

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What do you immediately think of when you hear the word “strength?” Perhaps you think of working out and building up muscle mass and endurance. Maybe you think about emotional strength  found in a loving support system of friends. Some may equate strength as not showing any emotion in the midst of crisis. There are many concepts that come to mind.

I want to ask another question. Where does real strength come from? Would you consider and meditate on the thought that Daniel gives us?

Daniel 11:32 “…the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits. “

Real strength comes from a personal relationship with God. A relationship that secures eternal life. One that bears you up through trials and distress. More yet, this strength enables you to do exploits, what seemed to be impossible before.

Let’s seek real strength in a daily, dynamic relationship with  God.

Book Review: The Insanity of God

Posted on by josiahkagin

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The Insanity of God. An eye catching title, I know! When this book was first recommended to me, I have to admit, it didn’t sound like a book I would read. You can never judge a book by its cover! From the first pages I was struck with the powerful testimony of God’s guidance in the life of Nik Ripkens who sought God earnestly. Here are some of the lessons I learned from the book and why you need read it as well.

  1. God is a Rewarder: “…he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” (Hebrews 11:6)
    Nik’s heart to seek God and to do His will is obvious throughout the book. There is a progression of growth in the author’s life that makes one thirsty to seek God also. By the last chapter, there a sense that Nik had experienced enormous growth in both the knowledge and love of God. It is time that American believers seek God in sincerity.
  2. God is Working in the Midst of Persecution: Much of the world does not know the freedoms that we experience in America. Persecution is a daily occurrence for many believers around the world. As Americans, we think restriction and persecution limits the work of God, but the opposite is true. God’s power is revealed in the most amazing ways in the most heavily persecuted countries. Persecuted believers in Somaliland, Russia, China and in Muslim lands are seeing God work as He did in the pages of the New Testament. Though we ought not seek persecution, we ought to embrace living for and serving Christ with same focus and passion as our persecuted brethren.  As Stoyan said, reference American believers, “I took great joy that I was suffering in my country so that you could be free to witness in your country.” He went on to say, “DON’T YOU EVER GIVE UP IN FREEDOM WHAT WE WOULD NEVER GIVE UP IN PERSECUTION— AND THAT IS OUR WITNESS TO THE POWER OF THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST!”
  3. God uses Dedicated Disciples: I discovered that these persecuted believers knew by experience what Jesus meant in Luke 9:23 when He said, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.” I was left asking myself, “Do I know what that means.” They serve Jesus gladly even in the face of death because Jesus is worthy. Reading of their dedication, I have no question why God used them as He did. Let us decide to be dedicated to Jesus no matter what happens. He is worth it!
  4. God is the Same: The Bible tells us that God is always the same. We read the Biblical accounts of God’s powerful works and conclude, “That was just for Bible times.” Nik  asks, “Is the resurrection power that the New Testament describes still real and available to believers in our world today?  Nik discovered that the God of the New Testament had not changed and was still able and ready to show Himself strong.  Our God is not limited by governments. He is not limited by evil. I was personally convicted of my lack of faith in the unlimited power of God. How we need a fresh realization of the grandness and power of our God.

After reading this book, I plan to recommend it to everybody I can, simply because it was a huge help to me. I am hungry to see God work in America and more specifically in my own community. This book challenged me not to get sidetracked by the thrills of life, but to seek to know Christ and the power of His resurrection.

Available on Amazon

Your Impact

Posted on by josiahkagin

 

impact

You have the unique, unspeakable power to impact others who live around you. When I speak of impact, I am talking about the ability to influence the direction, decisions and destiny of others. You have heard the statement, “No man is an island unto himself.” Simply put, every action, word and decision that you make influences the actions, words and decisions that others in your life make.

Romans 14:7 For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself.

None of us slip into life and back out without making some kind of impact in the lives of others.

Take a moment to consider both the kind of impact and the amount of impact you are making. If you are like me, you will be left thinking, “How can I impact others more?”  The best way to maximize impact is to simply love God with all of your heart, soul and mind. Your impact will be directly proportionate to your relationship with God.

Acts 4:13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus