CAMPFIRE MESSAGES from Pastors & Ministers of ICCAN

Comment

Comment by Pastor Lynn Kirkland on September 3, 2011 at 11:54am

The Miracle of Witnessing on the Go
By Pastor Lynn Kirkland
The following Bible study is a summary of four sermons that I preached at Cowboy Church @ The Hippodrome. Please consider joining us on Wednesday evenings at 7 PM or on Sunday mornings if an event is taking place at The Hippodrome. Cowboy Church @ The Hippodrome is a casual, come as you are sort of church. We welcome people from all walks of life – whether you wear boots and jeans or flip-flops and shorts – you are welcome to worship with us at Cowboy Church @ The Hippodrome.
Our motto is “We don’t just go to church. We are the church. And when we gather with each other, or with other believers, we have church.” Join us soon!
We are offering a free DVD to anyone that would like to have one of one of our recent services. It shows a little of the fellowship, the music worship, the Bible Study, and the preachin’. If you would like to have one email me at PastorLynn.ImpactMinistries@gmail.com or phone our office at 803-400-3609 (May be long distance from a landline so dial a 1). Or, find us on facebook at www.facebook.com/PastorLynn.Impactministries. We look forward to hearing from you.
Acts, Chapter 3, contains 26 verses and I am not going to publish them all here. I sincerely hope that you will take the time to read the whole chapter. I have read it in its entirety several times over the last month and glean more information from it each time I read it. Because it is a story, and a good one at that, we tend to read it in parts and do not get the full point of the message.
The outline we want to use along with the key verses are as follows:
The Miracle of Witnessing on the Go
Acts 3:1-26
I. What Happened?
Acts 3:2-8 And a certain man lame from his mother's womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered into the temple; Who seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple asked an alms. And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, Look on us. And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something of them. Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk. And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up: and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God.

II. Why Did It Happen?
Acts 3:11-12 And as the lame man which was healed held Peter and John, all the people ran together unto them in the porch that is called Solomon's, greatly wondering. And when Peter saw it, he answered unto the people…
III. Can It Happen Today?

Acts 3:19 Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;

Part I. What Happened?
This is a wonderful, exciting story of a miraculous healing. It was not long after Pentecost – The Birth of
the Church. Peter had recently preached and seen 3,000 added to the local congregation. My, my!
What a time!

What happened on this day was that a man that had been lame from birth was healed. This was very
well the son of an important official in the church because of the prominent place he had to beg alms.
He had the “best seat in the house” and apparently everyone knew him.

Peter decided to put the Holy Spirit to the test, again! And, at the same time glorify God and His Son,
Jesus. Personally, I don’t think Peter planned any of this. He was impulsive but a quick thinker and just
took advantage fo the current situation.

Part II. Why Did It Happen?
We see in verses 11 and 12 that the lame man was healed and all the people came to together to see
what was going on.

Comment by Lynn D. Walker on September 2, 2011 at 7:39am

Please visit us at COWBOY COUNTRY CHURCH

September 2nd, 2011
JUST FOR TODAY: Seek the Lord with your whole being. He desires to be found by you. Seek Him when times are good and give him Praise. Seek Him when times are hard and cry out to Him for help. You will find that He is watching over you ALL the time!! Think about that for a moment....God Almighty is watching over you. Thank you Lord. ~Pastor Lynn

Comment by Lynn D. Walker on September 1, 2011 at 11:39am

Please visit us at COWBOY COUNTRY CHURCH

FROM THE PASTOR'S PORCH: Don't be a control freak!

Control freaks are not always ego maniacs who want to control the world. Well...maybe they are because one thing in common with all control freaks is that they want to control their own lives and if you want to control your own life you would have to be able to control the world around you. That's why being a control freak is always so unsuccessful and control freaks are never satisfied or happy.

I was a control freak for many years, and to some extent, I still struggle with it at times, but being in the ministry of Pastoring a church for the last seven years has just about broke me of the habit. I still make plans for my day, but I have learned not to get too excited when one phone call can change every detail of the day that I had so well planned out. I think each and every one of us has to finally come to grips with God's Word when He tells us "do not lean on your own understanding".

Being a control freak is never succesfull because it is contrary to the way that God operates plus we do not have the resorces or intellect to accomplish our goals. We cannot see the "big picture" like God does and we certainly are not smart enough to "make all things work for good" the way he can. We are looking at the world through a knot hole and some how we think we know what's going on!! So we lean on our own understanding and make our plans so we can know what's going to happen and control our lives.... it ain't gonna happen. Oh, some folks have success from the world's point of view; they have money, cars, homes, and lots of toys, but they don't have things eternal and they don't accomplish what God had in store for them. And there won't be no Uhaul trailer hooked on to the hearse so they can take all their "stuff" with them.

God's plan is for us to Trust Him. He wants us to depend completely on Him and not lean on our own understanding. If we put our complete Trust in Him and give control of our life to Him, He will guide us always in the right direction and He will always give us strength as we need it to accomplish His purpose for our life. This process is called growing strong in your weakness and it is the only true way to success and happiness.

I don't know about you but I think I'm gonna leave all the stress and worry of tryin' to control my own life to the control freaks. We all want to go to the the smartest Doctors when we're sick. We want the smartest leaders to run our government. We want the smartest coaches for our football teams. Why wouldn't you want God who is all powerful and all knowing running YOUR life. Sign me up!! ~Pastor Lynn

Comment by Lynn D. Walker on September 1, 2011 at 9:19am

Please visit us at COWBOY COUNTRY CHURCH

September 1st, 2011
JUST FOR TODAY: How can you grow strong in your weakness? TRUST GOD!! We have a tendancy to lean on our on understanding, planning out OUR day so we know when things are going to happen and we can be in control. This will ultimately always end in failure and cause us to feel defeated. On the other hand, God wants you to depend completely on Him. If you will put your Trust in God, He will guide you and strengthen you as needed.....Growing strong in your weakness. ~Pastor Lynn

Comment by Lynn D. Walker on August 29, 2011 at 9:36pm

Please visit us at COWBOY COUNTRY CHURCH

August 29th, 2011
JUST FOR TODAY: When you trust God, that is a demonstration of your Faith. This demonstration of Faith always weakens the principalities and powers of darkness. They cannot function or operate or come against you when you take the time and put yourself in a state of Trusting in God. You will find it amazing how living in a state of Trust allows you to do less, yet accomplish more. ~Pastor Lynn

Comment by Dr. Bob Rawson, FCH Director on August 29, 2011 at 7:17pm

May I offer for all of us the pastoral care and counseling prayer that I use.  I hope that some of you find it helpful and maybe is a prayer you would like to use perhaps on a daily basis.

                           ALMIGHTY GOD,  whose only Son Jesus Christ came not to be served but to serve, graft

                           into our hearts a cheerful willingness to love and serve you through our service to our neighbors.

                               Guide us in all our waking hours that we so watch with Christ that we may recognize the

                           needs and wants of others.

                               Give us the strength of the Holy Spirit to heal the sick, the wounded, and the crippled in body,

                           mind, and spirit in the Name of Jesus, whose example we gratefully follow.

                               Help us, in your mercy, to encourage the destitute, the fearful, and the oppressed, and to be

                           the instruments of your peace to comfort those who are sorrowing or bereaved.

                               Grant us grace to strengthen those weakened by temptation, or doubt, or despair, and to

                           teach the uninstructed in the faith.

                               Finally, in our sleeping, let us rest with the full knowledge of the peace which passes our

                           understanding.  All this we ask in the Name of Jesus, your beloved Son, whom we serve to

                           your honor and glory.

                                            AMEN.

Comment by Don Adkisson on August 29, 2011 at 5:38pm

"Sin is deadly. It is the one thing God won't tolerate. The war between good and evil is to the death. And you lend yourself to in without knowing to what dirty enterprise you have sold yourself...until you see that cross... So it is with sin. You can discuss it academically. You can even argue whether there is such a thing or not, or whether it is all the imagination of moralists. But then go and look at the cross. It does that. It is the most deadly thing known to God and man. It would slay the body and damn the soul. It is hell's worst. You can see it when you gaze upon the cross."

     --William E. Sangster

"Until we have seen ourselves as God sees us, we are not likely to be much disturbed over conditions around us as long as they do not get so far out of hand as to threaten our comfortable way of life. We have learned to live with unholiness and have come to look upon it as the natural and expected thing."

     --A.W. Tozer

Perhaps they were tired, weary, and thirsty for they had been traveling through the desert for weeks. Frustration marked their steps as the thing they were seeking continually eluded them. Hope was dwindling; perhaps they thought they might die. Then the earth dropped off in front of them.   Stopped in their tracks, they could go no further. The way was now barred by the Grand Canyon.

     Despite their condition, no doubt they marveled at what lay before them--one of the greatest wonders of nature. Mouths dropped open in amazement and wonder; weariness forgotten for the moment lost in the spectacular sight. The saw the different hues as the sun shined down. They could not grasp the enormity of the sight before them. Words were not adequate and they would look at the wonder before them, and then look at each other with wide eyes and shaking their head. Since they were Catholic, perhaps these conquistadors made the sign of the Cross.

     However, before long the realization would hit them--no way across. At one point it is twenty-three miles across and a mile deep. Now the wonder turns to despair and depression and loss of hope. Their elusive dream lay on the other side, or so they thought, and there was not way to cross. Some may have cried, some may have expressed anger, some may have suggested they return failing in their quest. These explorers, excited with the prospect of finding riches were now thwarted on their journey.

     As I walked the rim of the Grand Canyon this summer many thoughts and emotions rushed through me. Some were similar to what I suppose Coronado and his men experienced. Then a thought struck me. It was a chasm that large, but not so grand that stood between God and man because of sin. Many cliffs, canyons, and gorges lay in that canyon that separated them from God. It was massive with no way to cross.

     Man seeks and elusive god of wealth, fame, prosperity, glory, etc., but in reality they cannot see that all this is really on the other side of the canyon in God's glory. Some never make it to the canyon to gaze across but will die chasing their fantasy in the wilderness. Others when searching, see the great distance and depth and cry "woe is me." But others seek, and looking through spiritual eyes see that the Father has provided a means across the great canyon of sin. Look and see--the cross of Christ; there is now no means of separation for there is a way provided back to the Father and the riches of His house.

                                                                        D. Adkisson

     "And besides, there is a great chasm separating us. Anyone who wanted to cross over to you from here is stopped at its edge, and no one there can cross over to us."

           --Luke 16:26 (NLT)

Comment by lisa slavin on August 28, 2011 at 1:41am

Our weakness is God's strength and what brings him glory when we come threw it. God alone deserves the glory so let no man boast on his own accomplishments or take credit for what God has done.And if you can put yourself before God boasting on anything you should ask yourself would I brag to him about what I have done ?

Comment by Lynn D. Walker on August 27, 2011 at 12:54am

Please visit us at COWBOY COUNTRY CHURCH

August 28th, 2011
JUST FOR TODAY: Don't try to hide ANYTHING from God. That would be so pointless because God knows every thought before you think it and He knows every word that you say before you speak it!! You may decieve other people, and you may even fool yourself, but you will NEVER decieve God. Don't let this freak you out. Just trust the Lord Jesus and His blood will cleanse you and you will be clothed in His Righteousness. ~Pastor Lynn

Comment by Lynn D. Walker on August 25, 2011 at 12:04pm

Please visit us at COWBOY COUNTRY CHURCH 

 

FROM THE PASTOR'S PORCH: Spiritual Concentration

My Daddy used to tell me, "Some people make things happen, some people watch things happen, and some people wonder what happened!!" He strongly suggested that I stay out of that last catagory, but for many years that was right where I was at. Always wondering what in the thunder was going on in my life and what was I doing wrong. For some reason, it always seemed I couldn't have any long term success at anything I tried to do. I finally realized it was all due to lack of Spiritual Concentration.

In order to ever get to "making things happen", you first have to go through the process of "watching things happen". Jesus gave us this answere in John 5:19 when He said, "I TELL YOU THE TRUTH, THE SON CAN DO NOTHING BY HIMSELF; HE CAN DO ONLY WHAT HE SEES HIS FATHER DOING, BECAUSE WHATEVER THE FATHER DOES THE SON ALSO DOES." Now ain't that a piece of revelation!! "Spiritual Concentration"!! The Lord Jesus concentrated on watching what God was doing and then joined him in HIS work. How many times have we thought up some great project for ourselves or even some great project for God, and then asked God to join us and bless OUR efforts?? We didn't pray about it before hand to ask God about it, and we sure didn't "watch" or look around and see what God was already doing!!

And then we wonder why there is no success in our life. All due to lack of Spiritual Concentration. If you want to make God laugh, just tell Him all about YOUR plans.

God always takes the initiative and shows His will and His purpose to His people. If we don't get it, it's because we ain't listening. God always speaks to us through the Holy Spirit by the Bible, Prayer, circumstances, and other Christians (the Church). How can you have "Spiritual Concentration" if you don't read your Bible? How can you have "Spiritual Concentration" if you are not on your knees in Prayer? How can you have "Spiritual Concentration" when you don't look at your circumstances from God's perspective? How can you have "Spiritual Concentration" if you don't go to Church?

My prayer for all of us today is that we will open our Spiritual eyes and follow the example that Jesus has given us. Let's "watch" what God is working and doing all around us and then join Him in His work. If we really want to be the kind of people who "make things happen", then we are gonna have to concentrate on God's plan and not our own. We must always remember, that without him, we can do nothing!! Join God in His work today and be blessed. ~Pastor Lynn

Comment by Andy Starks,ICCAN Int'l Director on August 25, 2011 at 9:35am

Good word.

Comment by Don Adkisson on August 25, 2011 at 7:16am

     "Wild horses keep dragging me away...."

               --David Wills

 

     "Discipline implies a purposeful, attentive, exercised, and conscious approach to something.  It involves saying no to wrong habits and yes to right habits."

               --Dale A. O'Shields

 

In my journeys I have seen many wild animals, but have not yet come across wild horses.  In the few trips to western Colorado and Wyoming, and now this past summer into Nevada, I looked, but in vain.  They are of concern to the ranchers of the West and to environmentalists, and in reading their commentaries both have valid points.

     The wild horses that still roam consist mainly of those from years past, a type of mustang.  Now, however, there are those that have run away from ranches, or were turned out.  These wild horses are very prolific with a twenty percent increase per year and often as high as forty percent, and thus this becomes a problem.

     Some of them are magnificent animals, while many are scruffy and scraggly.  In some can be seen breeding, while in others they survive mainly because they go with the herd.  All the time the population is growing.

     What good are they?  Possibly a symbol of freedom.  Possibly a remembrance of years past.  In reality, the horse was for work of some kind, not to just wander, interbreed, and graze.  Looking from my perspective I see the same attributes with many people out there.  Some have potential, some look scruffy, some just mingle and travel with the herd.  Work is not for them as they want to spend their time grazing on the good of the land.  At times they come close to those who are doing something constructive, to those who are contributing and try to drag them away to join the number of drifters, the nonproducers, those that eat from the hard work of others.

     One of the jobs given by God to man was the ability and mandate to work.  Not only physical labor, but also to work for the kingdom of God.  How many have wandered from their mandate and join those who, like Adam, wanted their eyes opened and freedom from the bondage of serving God? 

                                                  D. Adkisson

 

     "The LORD God took the man and placed him in the garden of Eden to work it and watch over it."

               --Genesis 2:15  (HCSB)

Comment by John Chitwood on August 23, 2011 at 10:10am

My faith in god is what has kept me going through this chaotic period of my life. So many ups and downs, twists and turns.. But i will emerge from it a more spiritually sound person and ready to walk with the Lord WHEN its my time.

Comment by Tom Borror on August 23, 2011 at 5:57am

let not yourself be troubled, in troubled times. Jesus said I will never  leave you or forsake you

Comment by Jan Harbuck, Network Manager on August 22, 2011 at 10:40pm

A minister friend of mine posted this, thought it was worth sharing...

I wonder what would happen if we treated our BIBLE like we treat our CELL PHONE? We carry it in our purse. We flipped through it throughout the day. We go home to get it if we FORGOT it. We RECEIVED messages from the text. We COULDN'T live WITHOUT it. We GAVE it to KIDS as gifts. We used it in case of emergency. One more thing, it would NEVER be disconnected. JESUS has already paid the bill. :~) ~~~ AMEN~~~

Comment by James & Kay Gilbert on August 22, 2011 at 2:22pm

GOT -A- MINUTE

 

" Since you are not sure of a Minute, throw not away an Hour" Ben Franklin

 

What a profound statement of truth. I find myself pondering an idea or project much longer than was necessary.

Why, because I didn't take a minute to pray and ask the Lord for direction.  God always has a Minute to spend with us, if we will just slow down, sit at his feet and LISTEN.

 

Today start with a minute with the Master He will reveal His plan for your Day.

 

In His Love

Pastor Kay Gilbert

Cowboy Outreach and Arena of Life Church

 

Comment by Jan Harbuck, Network Manager on August 19, 2011 at 9:42am

Great Word Pastor Mike!

Comment by Lynn D. Walker on August 14, 2011 at 6:26am

Please visit us at COWBOY COUNTRY CHURCH

JUST FOR TODAY: Prayin' for all of God's churches to be full of Worshipers this mornin'. May we all Worship Him in Spirit and Truth today. I hope the Annointing flows with Love and Power this mornin' as it always does when "God shows up". Please invite God to be at your church and with your Pastor this mornin'. May you recieve revelation from God's Word and be richly Blessed today. ~Pastor Lynn

Comment by Carolan Freeman on August 13, 2011 at 1:51am

Yes,God is in Control and even though,sometimes,we do not understand,He is working it our good and His Glory...Romans 8:28

Comment by Gail Beoussard on August 12, 2011 at 5:45pm

Amen God is always faithful to his people we need to stay faithful to Him our Trust is not in what we see and hear but it is in Him that makes a way when there seems to be no way! PRAISE THE LORD ! !

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