Hey Giant-Killer

Hey Dave and church,


Did you get a chance to download that free book yet?

Someone who did says:

"All i can say is WOW!! What a great lil book.
Thank you so much for sending it."

Here's the link again, just in case you missed it:

"How to Kill Your Goliath: An Inspirational Guide to Spiritual Warfare"
http://theschoolofchrist.org/goliath/


Enjoy!


I am  your brother,


Chip Brogden
http://TheSchoolOfChrist.Org

PO Box 552, Canandaigua, NY 14424, USA

LK10 Spreads to Germany (and Uganda)!

LK10 Spreads to Germany (and Uganda)!
April 26, 2015

In recent months, the Lord of the harvest has once again answered the 10:2b Prayer (Lk 10:2) this time by connecting us with Bob and Barb Lidfors.  Bob and Barb have been missionaries in Germany for more than 30 years and have now agreed to serve as LK10 Coordinators for that country.  I want you to hear their story.

My interview with them includes how they found LK10, the difference our “rhythms of attention” are making in their marriage, the remarkable response of German couples they are taking through Church 101, and their vision for church planting in Germany.  In addition, you will hear how LK10 has now also spread to Uganda through Bob and Barb.  I think you will be greatly encouraged by hearing the story of this 10:2b Answer!

Click on the photo below to watch my interview with the Lidfors...

The Real Meaning of Baptism

“As many of you as were baptized
into Christ have put on Christ.”
GALATIANS 3:27

What does it mean to be baptized? It is to go down into death and to come back up into Life. We were baptized into Christ. The water of baptism does not merely signify the washing away of sins, but the death of the sinner. We go down into the water, and we are brought up out of the water. If we were to stay under the water for long we would surely die. But we are quickly lifted back up out of the “grave.” This represents death and resurrection.
The outward sign of water baptism is meant to represent an inward spiritual truth – that I am baptized indeed, not into water only, but into Christ. I died with Him, and I was raised with Him. If I am one with Him then His death is my death; when He is raised, I too am raised. God has placed us in Christ, and since we are joined to the Lord, we are one spirit with Him. The Branches will go the way of the Vine. The Body will go the way of the Head.
Source: Embrace the Cross by Chip Brogden

Humanity’s Greatest Disappointment

FrankViolaBlog - Humanity’s Greatest Disappointment

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Humanity’s Greatest Disappointment

Posted: 27 Apr 2015 03:56 AM PDT

“God remains humanity’s greatest disappointment.”
~ Dallas Willard
If you have your ear to the ground or your eyes on the screen, you will see a daily avalanche of mere mortals cursing, damning, and blaming the eternal God for everything that’s wrong in the world.
If people treat Him this way, while He is invisible, what would happen if He made Himself visible, like so many say they want?
They’d no doubt kill Him!
Wait . . .
He did.
And they did.
Then Jesus told Thomas, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

~ John 20:29
If you missed it: Some of My Favorite Films
Want to delve deeper?
* The Rethinking Series
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Behold-Believe-Behave

Behavior follows Belief.

When you believe differently, you behave differently.

So if you want to change your behavior, you have to change what you believe to be true.

For example...

If you believe it will rain today, you'll behave differently from someone who believes it will be sunny today (you might carry an umbrella just in case).

If you believe people are basically good, you'll treat them differently from someone who believes people are out to get you.

In spiritual matters the same is true - Behavior follows Belief.

If you believe God is loving, merciful and kind, you'll behave differently from someone who believes that God is angry and difficult to please.

Sometimes we pickup some weird beliefs about God that cause us to behave in strange ways.

But if changing the behavior means first changing the belief, how to do you change the belief?

Well, you don't consciously decide to change your beliefs.

But when you do change them, it's usually due to three causes:

1. Peer pressure - you imitate what other people say, do, think and believe;

2. Personal experience - certain life events (good or bad) change how you see the world;

3. Revelation - God gives you new insight, understanding, or wisdom and you finally "see the Light."

#1 can be risky if you let yourself get influenced by the wrong people.

#2 is better, but you can still come to some wrong conclusions about life and get off track.

#3 is best, because God reveals what is True, regardless of what you or anyone else thinks about it.

This is how spiritual life transformation happens... I call it "Behold-Believe-Behave."

"Behold" means "to see or notice something remarkable or impressive."

Good word, isn't it?

BEHOLD!

Here's how it works...

"The Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he SAW: and, BEHOLD..." (2 Kings 6:17).

1. When you *behold* differently,

2. You will *believe* differently, and

3. You will *behave* differently.

So back to behavior...

If you BEHOLD the victory that is yours in Christ (you really see it),

You'll BELIEVE that you have already won, and

You'll BEHAVE like more than a conqueror.

That's the gist of the little book I've been giving away:

"How to Kill Your Goliath: An Inspirational Guide to Spiritual Warfare"
http://theschoolofchrist.org/goliath/

But if you like that you really need to read this, too:
http://TheSchoolOfChrist.Org/articles/the-strength-of-seeing.html

You can BEHOLD Goliath as bigger than you, or...

You can BEHOLD the Lord in you as bigger than Goliath.

Whatever you look at will get bigger and bigger.

What will you look at this week?


I am  your brother,


Chip Brogden
http://TheSchoolOfChrist.Org

PO Box 552, Canandaigua, NY 14424, USA

God's Primary Purpose

“In Him dwells all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him,
who is the head of all principality and power.”
COLOSSIANS 2:9,10

Everything God has done, is doing, and will do is aimed at bringing us deeper into Christ, to finish what was begun in us when we first received Him. God is the One Who brings us through the Gate, and God is the One Who leads us along the Path.
Everything God has done, is doing, and will do has the same purpose, and that purpose explains everything you have been through, everything you are going through, and everything you will go through.
Source: The Irresistible Kingdom by Chip Brogden

Created for Him

“All things were created through Him and for Him.”
COLOSSIANS 1:16

In the beginning, when man walked with God, there was an obvious Heavenly Order in the earth. This simply meant that Christ was in His rightful place. When Christ has the preeminence, when He has the centrality and the supremacy, then all is well.
God created all things “by Him and for Him” and installed Him as Lord of All. With Christ in His rightful place the rest of creation could proceed. Six times in the Book of Genesis God declared that what He had just made was “good.” When the work was finally completed, God judged the final state of things to be “very good” (Genesis 1:31) and by far the greatest benefit of living under this Heavenly Order was the spiritual condition of man before the fall. Spiritually he was at peace with himself and at peace with his God. In a word, the state of things as they existed in the Heavenly Order was perfect. It was, quite literally, heaven on earth.
Source: The Irresistible Kingdom by Chip Brogden