What Shall We Do?

Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” (Acts 2:37)

In John 3:8, Jesus likened the moving of the Holy Spirit unto the wind. In doing so, he painted a picture of the Holy Spirit moving in the spiritual realm as the wind blows in the natural realm. You can see the effects of the wind, but you can’t see the wind. Likewise, you can not see the Holy Spirit, but you can most certainly see His effects!

With this imagery in mind, we can then compare many elements of Christ’s Church to the components of a sailboat. The sails of the boat need to be filled with wind to create forward movement. To the church, as already stated, that wind is the Holy Spirit. Spirit-filled people are the sails of Christianity. They are the people who have given their lives to Jesus and are filled with the Holy Spirit, allowing His power to be the driving force behind the movement of their lives.

How would I describe a Spirit-filled person? I once heard RT Kendall determine some descriptions along these lines: they have had an experience with the raw power of God, can testify of an infilling of the Holy Spirit, excel in the prayer and worship, and are familiar with and utilize the gifts of the Holy Spirit. I also believe they have faith in what the power of God can do and recognize the reality of spiritual warfare. As well, they sincerely desire the manifest presence of God and believe in the possibility of miracles.

But you need more than just sails on a sailboat to move without fail toward your destination. You must also have rudders, or you are sure to crash. The rudders keep you on course, and they keep you moving in the right direction. For that reason, I agree with a conclusion once drawn by Mark Driscoll, Word people are the rudders.

How would I describe word people? I believe word people remain focused on scripture and excel at understanding theology. They can discern heresy easily. And, they know their Bibles inside and out.

Are you a sail or a rudder?

Here’s the truth, you need to be both! Because God is Word and Spirit, He will never divorce the two. God wants to raise up word and Spirit-filled Christians and churches! The two are not to be separated, but united.

What shall we do to accomplish this mission within ourselves and our church?

I invite you to watch this message, What Shall We Do?, to see how God designed you to be both a sail and a rudder. Because learning these essential principles will help you experience His infilling and direction to the fullest, as you play an even more significant role within Christ’s Church to advance the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth!

Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.” (Acts 2:38-39 NKJV)

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How We Can Discover What is at the Center of Our Life

Behold, children are a gift of the LORD. The fruit of the womb is a reward. (Psalm 127:3 NASB)

Children are a gift! Parenting is a true gift from God, and He gives us children to enjoy. But it is possible to fall into the trap of enduring a child’s behavior issues rather than genuinely enjoying the child as a gift from Heaven.

It brings us to a fundamental question: How do you raise children you enjoy?

We must start with the heart. The Bible tells us that everything flows from the heart. Think of it this way: Your child's heart is upstream, and anything flowing out of them is downstream, such as characteristics and behaviors.

As Christian parents, it is essential to deposit the correct teachings into our children's hearts so they learn and develop self-control. I have come to believe that one of the most crucial elements of parenting is to embrace this truth:

The purpose of parenting is not to control the child but to teach the child self-control.

This principle becomes increasingly important in present times because whether we choose to realize it or not, every time our child scrolls through social media or launches a playlist on YouTube or Apple Music, the world teaches them lifestyle philosophies. And, unfortunately, most of those philosophies are centered in darkness. It seems we are raising our children in a spiritual Babylon, similar to the culture in the Book of Daniel. As a result, when it comes to any unholy ideology that culture may be using to take our kids captive, our sons and daughters must be raised in such a way that they can respond with uncompromising attitudes like Daniel, Shadrach, Meschach, and Abendago.

What are you teaching and developing in your child? Because the most important disciple you will ever make is your child. And… Making a disciple comes down to helping people get centered.

We as parents must be the ones to sow seeds of godliness into our children and center them in Christ so that anything transpiring around them externally will not affect what is inside of them. Because if our children are centered correctly, that which flows from their hearts will be of God, and they will have the power within them to defeat any attack the enemy forms against them!

What is your family's center? What is your child’s center? How do we evaluate our priorities to make sure we are centered correctly?

These are essential questions to answer as parents. I invite you to watch this crucial message, How to Lead Your Family Well, as I walk through the significance of centering our families in the things that matter most.

It's our responsibility to plant the correct seeds within our children's hearts and keep them centered. We are blessed with the opportunity to make our children into disciples!

“But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” (Joshua 24:15 NKJV)

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Two Things Are Going to Happen

But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. (2 Timothy 3:14-17 KJV)

Have you ever walked into a completely unfurnished house? Do you remember sensing an empty feeling or like the house was lacking the most essential things, the things that made it a comfortable and perfect home? It can be a long process to take an empty house and turn it into a thoroughly furnished and functional home.

God desires every man and woman of God to go through a process of becoming perfect. We are to become who God truly created us to be.

That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. (2 Timothy 3:17 KJV)

God has planned good works for you to complete! He has a plan for you! There is hope and a future for you! God desires to use you to impact other people and be a blessing! And He will furnish you for every good work He has asked you to complete. He will place everything you need inside of you so that you can facilitate and complete EVERYTHING He has planned for you to do, every good work.

Why is this important? Why must we comprehend that we are thoroughly furnished and equipped to complete all good works?

Yea and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. (2 Timothy 3:12-13 KJV)

Because 2 Timothy 3:12-13 is just as relevant today as when Paul conveyed it to his spiritual son Timothy. We can be guaranteed two things, those who live godly will be persecuted, and evil people will become worse and worse.

But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. (2 Timothy 3:1-7 NKJV)

The above Scriptures come incredibly close to describing the current culture we live in today. No one wants to be persecuted, and no one wants to witness others becoming worse and worse, but these things will happen. So what can you do?

I invite you to watch this message, Two Things Are Going to Happen, and be encouraged to live a powerful life devoted to God and His Word. It is through the Word of God that you become thoroughly furnished, and only then can you begin to help future generations become thoroughly furnished and equipped to walk in the lives God has planned for them!

All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. (2 Timothy 3:16-17 KJV)

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