So this coming Thursday I'm going to be preaching in the cafeteria of Chase Bank. This is where about 3,000 people generally eat. Not all at once but it is the cafeteria where they can go. I'm excited and anxious to see what happens. I do not plan on holding anything back when I preach just because of my surroundings. I'm praying for clarity on what sermon to preach. I don't care which it is, I just want people to hear Jesus. I'm going to be doing this at 1 EST on 7/30/09 so if you think of it pray for Jesus to bring His consuming fire! I have been praying for quite some time about this and feel that this is the perfect opportunity. I just hope that Christ will be revealed in and through this. I have some Christian friends here at work and they're excited and hoping that something will spark and start something. So I ask that you pray and pray without ceasing!! We are asking Holy Spirit Fire to come down upon us and consume anything that is not of Jesus. I will write something afterwards to let you know how things went. May you be heard, seen, felt, and known Jesus!!
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Thursday, July 23, 2009
What to Pray For
As we are preparing to take our leap of faith into full time itinerant evangelism I am being asked what can people pray for us for. As I thought of this question a list began to form in my head:
Safe Travels
Money
Meetings
Safety
Comfort
Peace
Joy
Happiness
Good Crowds
Excellent Services
Great Internet Cafes
Good Communication (you try riding with somebody from Illinois to Maine and not kill them)
and the list could go on.
But as I thought about each of these I noticed a common theme with them. They are all very selfish requests and requests about Me and Mindy. Although I do want these things I don't want them to get in the place of Jesus. If anything comes before Christ in my life then it's sin. I don't want to sin nor do I want people to sin while praying for me. So I guess I'm going to alter my prayer requests that we want. Here is the list:
1. Jesus
2. see # 1
3. see #2
4 see # 3
All I want people to pray for me is JESUS!! Jesus will provide the first list if I seek Him and if He doesn't then i don't want it anyway. I want Him and Him alone. It says in Matthew 6:33 that we're to seek God's Kingdom FIRST and then the rest of the stuff will be added. Now it seems to me that the focus of our life needs not to be on our Santa Claus prayer list, but rather we should be single minded and have one focus...JESUS. If we do that then God will take care of the rest, but if we focus on the other things then we are living for ourselves. We are living for the second part of the verse.
So my request is not that you pray for list # 1, but rather that you pray for list TWO. List two may have trouble, toil, tribulation in it, but I don't care. I want to be stretched and grown in Jesus and how do you think I'll do that?? It's never an easy prayer to pray however we must if we are to grow.
May I pray, live, eat, breath, speak, sleep all for Jesus!!! Jesus must be the focal point of our lives!!!
Safe Travels
Money
Meetings
Safety
Comfort
Peace
Joy
Happiness
Good Crowds
Excellent Services
Great Internet Cafes
Good Communication (you try riding with somebody from Illinois to Maine and not kill them)
and the list could go on.
But as I thought about each of these I noticed a common theme with them. They are all very selfish requests and requests about Me and Mindy. Although I do want these things I don't want them to get in the place of Jesus. If anything comes before Christ in my life then it's sin. I don't want to sin nor do I want people to sin while praying for me. So I guess I'm going to alter my prayer requests that we want. Here is the list:
1. Jesus
2. see # 1
3. see #2
4 see # 3
All I want people to pray for me is JESUS!! Jesus will provide the first list if I seek Him and if He doesn't then i don't want it anyway. I want Him and Him alone. It says in Matthew 6:33 that we're to seek God's Kingdom FIRST and then the rest of the stuff will be added. Now it seems to me that the focus of our life needs not to be on our Santa Claus prayer list, but rather we should be single minded and have one focus...JESUS. If we do that then God will take care of the rest, but if we focus on the other things then we are living for ourselves. We are living for the second part of the verse.
Solomon didn't pray for riches, wives and everything he had. He prayed for wisdom, and the filling of the Holy Spirit. Then God seeing that he was not being selfish gave him all of the riches and wives he had. He made him known through all the world. Obviously I am not wanting riches or wives (I would go nuts with more than one!). But I am wanting the wisdom of God FIRST!
So my request is not that you pray for list # 1, but rather that you pray for list TWO. List two may have trouble, toil, tribulation in it, but I don't care. I want to be stretched and grown in Jesus and how do you think I'll do that?? It's never an easy prayer to pray however we must if we are to grow.
May I pray, live, eat, breath, speak, sleep all for Jesus!!! Jesus must be the focal point of our lives!!!
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Mourning, Rejoicing, and Everything in Between
So last week I was the speaker at a teen camp and it was awesome! I saw some guys I went to college with and it turns out they love Jesus now too. It was really funny because we all said we were jerks in college but all seem to want to be friends now. So that was pretty awesome. The food was pretty good there and everybody at the camp was so friendly.
There was this one activity called Dorm or Dump of the Day. We would go into each room and determine whether or not it had a chance for Dorm or Dump of the Day. Now the criteria was 1. Temperature 2. Odor 3. Organization 4. Bribe. Now the most important part of it was really the bribe, they could leave behind $, snacks, soda, or whatever for this bribe. So the bribe could push you from being so so to winning. Now if you were the dorm of the day then you got to go through the lunch line first, but if you were dump of the day you had to go and clean your room before you could go eat. So it was pretty fun.
In the mornings I did sort of a narrative character study sort of thing. I told the stories of Elijah, Noah, Abraham, and Moses. It was an interesting time and a little out of my comfort box because I am an expository preacher. So it forced me to take a different angle which was a good thing and I feel as though I grew from it. The kids seemed to like it because of the costumes I had on during it. I told the stories in the first person and it was interesting to try and get into the mindset of each one. I even grew my beard out, which I still need to cut off since it itches. Mindy had a good idea that I should have done, but to put baby powder on my hair and beard to look like an old man. That would have been awesome for Noah especially!
I preached twice and about sweat through my clothes completely while doing it. I don't know what it is but I seem to sweat a ton, even if I'm not doing something active. I even used to sweat a lot when I was skinny. I must have large pores lol. The other nights I didn't preach we went to Logan Campground to hear Billy Huddleston and a missionary speaker from Ukraine. Both very good and I am pretty sure the teens liked them. There was a good response every service and I was so happy about that!
Well it was Friday about midday and we got word that one of the teens, Jake Walls, had fallen while doing the hiking elective. We were not sure of how bad it was and we just thought it was like a broken bone or something, but it turned out it was way worse than that. He was up on a large rock about 50 ft and fell. He was unconscious but his breathing and heartbeat was strong on his own. Well the guy who was heading up the hiking elective is a fire fighter and an EMT. He was at the back of the line to make sure nobody fell behind and once Jake fell he was the first one there. The wierd thing is that everybody in front of him never saw him go past them, but yet he was there already when they came down the trail. He said he just went down the trail. God was at work.
They took him to a local hospital and worked on him there, but realized they needed to transport him to Children's Hospital in Columbus. They put him into an ambulance after doing 3 transfusions on him and gave them 3 more to do on the way there. I'm pretty sure your entire body only has 6 total transfusions. They were able to reach the hospital but shortly after he passed away.
It was a sad day as we had to tell the youth group from our church this news and be there for comforting. I wanted to cry too, however I knew in this circumstance I needed to be the strong one. It was amazing how strong some of them were though, one boy in particular spoke up after about 1 minute and said "Guys. He's with Jesus." Wow, I know I would not have thought to say that as soon as he did if my best friend died. The campus we were on had a somber tone to it as all of the students sort of realized that he was only 15 and that was too close to their age to ignore. Earlier on that week he had lead a girl from the youth group to Jesus and testified that God was calling him to do something. He said that he didn't know why God would use him and how he felt so unworthy of such a calling.
We had several grief counselors come and helped the teens from the youth group walk through some emotions that were going on. Then we had everybody get together in the chapel and the grief counselor walked all of the kids through what had gone on with the kids from our youth group. Then we opened up the altar to anybody who needed to pray, cry, or whatever. They were so flooded you couldn't even reach the platform. It was good because you could tell they needed to release some of the stuff that was built up inside. Well at the end of that we took the teens from our youth group home to be with their parents.
It was a tough day from the point we found out on. We prayed so much for Jake and his parents and the teens who were close friends of his. I think one of the hardest things was not knowing what was going on. But then again at the same time I was one of the first ones that knew anything. I don't know which was worst, knowing and having to not tell, or not knowing and wanting to. Either way it was a horrible day. As I step back and look at it though I know God has a plan. I may not always know the plan He has, however I do know that it is perfect. I do love the fact that in his last days Jake was leading people to Christ. I would love to be remembered like that.
Please pray for the families involved, the counselors that were there, the teens, camp directors, and pretty much everybody at the camp. We need your prayers as we work through this and process what happened. It is sad to have a life so young, 15, taken, but if it is what God wants then I cannot fight that. I hope that the kids will take a life lesson out of this that life is fragile, and we never are promised our next moment. We must live accordingly.
There was this one activity called Dorm or Dump of the Day. We would go into each room and determine whether or not it had a chance for Dorm or Dump of the Day. Now the criteria was 1. Temperature 2. Odor 3. Organization 4. Bribe. Now the most important part of it was really the bribe, they could leave behind $, snacks, soda, or whatever for this bribe. So the bribe could push you from being so so to winning. Now if you were the dorm of the day then you got to go through the lunch line first, but if you were dump of the day you had to go and clean your room before you could go eat. So it was pretty fun.
In the mornings I did sort of a narrative character study sort of thing. I told the stories of Elijah, Noah, Abraham, and Moses. It was an interesting time and a little out of my comfort box because I am an expository preacher. So it forced me to take a different angle which was a good thing and I feel as though I grew from it. The kids seemed to like it because of the costumes I had on during it. I told the stories in the first person and it was interesting to try and get into the mindset of each one. I even grew my beard out, which I still need to cut off since it itches. Mindy had a good idea that I should have done, but to put baby powder on my hair and beard to look like an old man. That would have been awesome for Noah especially!
I preached twice and about sweat through my clothes completely while doing it. I don't know what it is but I seem to sweat a ton, even if I'm not doing something active. I even used to sweat a lot when I was skinny. I must have large pores lol. The other nights I didn't preach we went to Logan Campground to hear Billy Huddleston and a missionary speaker from Ukraine. Both very good and I am pretty sure the teens liked them. There was a good response every service and I was so happy about that!
Well it was Friday about midday and we got word that one of the teens, Jake Walls, had fallen while doing the hiking elective. We were not sure of how bad it was and we just thought it was like a broken bone or something, but it turned out it was way worse than that. He was up on a large rock about 50 ft and fell. He was unconscious but his breathing and heartbeat was strong on his own. Well the guy who was heading up the hiking elective is a fire fighter and an EMT. He was at the back of the line to make sure nobody fell behind and once Jake fell he was the first one there. The wierd thing is that everybody in front of him never saw him go past them, but yet he was there already when they came down the trail. He said he just went down the trail. God was at work.
They took him to a local hospital and worked on him there, but realized they needed to transport him to Children's Hospital in Columbus. They put him into an ambulance after doing 3 transfusions on him and gave them 3 more to do on the way there. I'm pretty sure your entire body only has 6 total transfusions. They were able to reach the hospital but shortly after he passed away.
It was a sad day as we had to tell the youth group from our church this news and be there for comforting. I wanted to cry too, however I knew in this circumstance I needed to be the strong one. It was amazing how strong some of them were though, one boy in particular spoke up after about 1 minute and said "Guys. He's with Jesus." Wow, I know I would not have thought to say that as soon as he did if my best friend died. The campus we were on had a somber tone to it as all of the students sort of realized that he was only 15 and that was too close to their age to ignore. Earlier on that week he had lead a girl from the youth group to Jesus and testified that God was calling him to do something. He said that he didn't know why God would use him and how he felt so unworthy of such a calling.
We had several grief counselors come and helped the teens from the youth group walk through some emotions that were going on. Then we had everybody get together in the chapel and the grief counselor walked all of the kids through what had gone on with the kids from our youth group. Then we opened up the altar to anybody who needed to pray, cry, or whatever. They were so flooded you couldn't even reach the platform. It was good because you could tell they needed to release some of the stuff that was built up inside. Well at the end of that we took the teens from our youth group home to be with their parents.
It was a tough day from the point we found out on. We prayed so much for Jake and his parents and the teens who were close friends of his. I think one of the hardest things was not knowing what was going on. But then again at the same time I was one of the first ones that knew anything. I don't know which was worst, knowing and having to not tell, or not knowing and wanting to. Either way it was a horrible day. As I step back and look at it though I know God has a plan. I may not always know the plan He has, however I do know that it is perfect. I do love the fact that in his last days Jake was leading people to Christ. I would love to be remembered like that.
Please pray for the families involved, the counselors that were there, the teens, camp directors, and pretty much everybody at the camp. We need your prayers as we work through this and process what happened. It is sad to have a life so young, 15, taken, but if it is what God wants then I cannot fight that. I hope that the kids will take a life lesson out of this that life is fragile, and we never are promised our next moment. We must live accordingly.
Monday, July 6, 2009
Letter of Resignation
Well today I gave my letter of resignation to my boss and it felt pretty good. I have been waiting for around 3 years or so to finally fulfill God's call on my life into itinerant evangelism. I am excited as my wife and I will pursue His will and will be stretched and grown into what He wants us to be. I'll put my actual letter I gave her below. Please keep us in your prayers that God will move and reveal Himself to us!
7/6/09
Chase Bank 3415 Vision Drive Columbus, OH, 43219
Dear Mrs. Sanders:
I regret to inform you that I am resigning from my position as Default Reconciliation Senior Analyst for Chase Bank. My last day of employment will be August 1, 2009.
I will be pursuing my call to itinerant evangelism and look forward to the new chapter of my life, even though I will miss my job and Chase Bank.
In Acts 20:23-24 it says “I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. However I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given to me-the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.” I must pursue this even though tough times are facing me because of the unique and distinct call upon my life. I pray that you will do the same in your life because He is holy and worthy to be praised.
Thank you for the support and the opportunities that you have provided me during the last few years. I have enjoyed my tenure with the company.
I wish you and the company all the best. I do hope our paths cross again in the future.
Sincerely,
Nicholas B. Jones
7/6/09
Chase Bank 3415 Vision Drive Columbus, OH, 43219
Dear Mrs. Sanders:
I regret to inform you that I am resigning from my position as Default Reconciliation Senior Analyst for Chase Bank. My last day of employment will be August 1, 2009.
I will be pursuing my call to itinerant evangelism and look forward to the new chapter of my life, even though I will miss my job and Chase Bank.
In Acts 20:23-24 it says “I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. However I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given to me-the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.” I must pursue this even though tough times are facing me because of the unique and distinct call upon my life. I pray that you will do the same in your life because He is holy and worthy to be praised.
Thank you for the support and the opportunities that you have provided me during the last few years. I have enjoyed my tenure with the company.
I wish you and the company all the best. I do hope our paths cross again in the future.
Sincerely,
Nicholas B. Jones
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Update on Life
Mindy and I are getting ready to take not just a step, but rather a leap of faith. She will be quitting her job as will I and we will be going full time in iterant evangelism in August. It is exciting and we are anxious to follow God’s will. We know that He will provide and we are eager to see how that is fleshed out. We are thankful for everybody involved with CSIM and the encouragement and support that they provide us as we answer the call on our life. We have both grown in Jesus and been stretched and molded to look more and more like Him. We will pursue Him with every mile we drive, sermon we preach, and prayer that we pray.
Tremendous things have been happening in the revival meetings that have been held. One in particular the Spirit so descended upon the place that once the altar call was over people did not want to leave. We then began to sing songs to Jesus for an hour and a half after the service was normally over. Another church experienced the true meaning of community when revival happened and the entire church got in on it. Lives were changed, souls were won, and morale renewed, Jesus was revealed.
Please pray that throughout the next chapters of our life God will continue to stir us in a unique way. We want nothing more than to reflect Him in our words and also in our lifestyle.
To follow where we are at and the movement of God in our lives visit www.pilotministries.com
Tremendous things have been happening in the revival meetings that have been held. One in particular the Spirit so descended upon the place that once the altar call was over people did not want to leave. We then began to sing songs to Jesus for an hour and a half after the service was normally over. Another church experienced the true meaning of community when revival happened and the entire church got in on it. Lives were changed, souls were won, and morale renewed, Jesus was revealed.
Please pray that throughout the next chapters of our life God will continue to stir us in a unique way. We want nothing more than to reflect Him in our words and also in our lifestyle.
To follow where we are at and the movement of God in our lives visit www.pilotministries.com
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Desensitized
I was recently asked a question..."Are the hearers of these words being desensitized to the impact that is capable if only they would listen to the words?"
This was my answer to this question:
I think that too often we play church and seem to go through the motions. It is as though we are putting on a show on Sunday morning and everything has to be just perfect. However this says to me that the Holy Spirit can move as long as He follows the schedule. We have seemed to get off track with allowing the Spirit to move, not only in the way we worship, but also in the way we preach. We have become wimpy preachers and don't allow God to speak Truth to our people. We try to soften up the raw Truth that the scripture is. There is no unction or conviction when we preach. So are the hearers of The Word becoming desensitized? Well yes, but at the same time we are allowing them to become that way. I would love to be in a service where the Spirit actually moved and nothing went according to plan. That would be truly awesome and unfortunately it's seldom seen. I obviously am getting worked up about this, however this is the kind of stuff that matters to me, I want to hear Truth and have my toes stepped all over. I want conviction in my life, and I don't want to come on Sunday to hear a sermon about God. Rather I want to come on Sunday to meet God face to face. May the speakers of The Word not become desensitized to Him and may the hearers of The Word never stop seeking His face.
This was my answer to this question:
I think that too often we play church and seem to go through the motions. It is as though we are putting on a show on Sunday morning and everything has to be just perfect. However this says to me that the Holy Spirit can move as long as He follows the schedule. We have seemed to get off track with allowing the Spirit to move, not only in the way we worship, but also in the way we preach. We have become wimpy preachers and don't allow God to speak Truth to our people. We try to soften up the raw Truth that the scripture is. There is no unction or conviction when we preach. So are the hearers of The Word becoming desensitized? Well yes, but at the same time we are allowing them to become that way. I would love to be in a service where the Spirit actually moved and nothing went according to plan. That would be truly awesome and unfortunately it's seldom seen. I obviously am getting worked up about this, however this is the kind of stuff that matters to me, I want to hear Truth and have my toes stepped all over. I want conviction in my life, and I don't want to come on Sunday to hear a sermon about God. Rather I want to come on Sunday to meet God face to face. May the speakers of The Word not become desensitized to Him and may the hearers of The Word never stop seeking His face.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Willing to Die for Jesus?
I often wonder why can't we win our world? Is it because we are not willing to go to the extent of what God wants to do in our life no matter what?? I looked up the deaths of some of the Apostles. I found it interesting and it brought conviction upon me that I need to not have a fluffy kind of Christianity, but rather a kind that I believe in so much so I'm willing to die for it. As you read through these try to ask yourself how far am I willing to let Jesus take me.
Matthew suffered martyrdom in Ethopia, killed by a sword wound.
Mark died in Alexandria, Egypt, dragged by horses through the streets until he was dead.
Luke was hanged in Greece as a result of his tremendous preaching to the lost.
John was boiled in a huge basin of boiling oil during a wave of persecution in Rome. However, he was miraculously delivered from death. John was then sentenced to the mines on the prison island of Patmos where he wrote his prophetic Book of Revelation. The Apostle John was later freed and returned to serve as a bishop in modern Turkey. He died an old man, the only Apostle to die peacefully.
Peter,was crucified upside down on an x-shaped cross, according to Church tradition, because he told his tormentors that he felt unworthy to die the same way that Jesus Christ had died.
James the Just, the leader of the Church in Jerusalem and brother of Jesus, was thrown down more than a hundred feet from the southeast pinnacle of the Temple when he refused to deny his faith in Christ. When they discovered that he survived the fall, his enemies beat James to death with a fuller's club. This was the same pinnacle where Satan had taken Jesus during the Temptation.
James the Greater, a son of Zebedee, was a fisherman by trade when Jesus called him to a lifetime of ministry. As a strong leader of the Church, James was ultimately beheaded at Jerusalem. The Roman soldier who guarded James watched amazed as James defended his faith at his trial. Later, the officer walked beside James to the place of execution. Overcome by conviction, he declared his new faith to the judge and knelt beside James to accept beheading as a Christian.
Bartholomew, also known as Nathanael, was a missionary to Asia. He witnessed about our Lord in present day Turkey. He was whipped to death for his preaching in Armenia.
Thomas was speared and died on one of his missionary trips to establish the Church in India.
Jude, another brother of Jesus, was killed with arrows after refusing to deny his faith in Christ.
Matthias, the Apostle chosen to replace the traitor Judas Iscariot, was stoned and beheaded.
Barnabas, one of the group of seventy disciples, was stoned to death at Salonica.
Paul was tortured and then beheaded by the evil Emperor Nero at Rome in A.D. 67. Paul endured a lengthy imprisonment which allowed him to write his many epistles to the Churches he had formed throughout the Roman Empire. These letters, which taught many of the foundational doctrines of Christianity, from a large portion of the New Testament.
The Deaths of the Apostles
Matthew suffered martyrdom in Ethopia, killed by a sword wound.
Mark died in Alexandria, Egypt, dragged by horses through the streets until he was dead.
Luke was hanged in Greece as a result of his tremendous preaching to the lost.
John was boiled in a huge basin of boiling oil during a wave of persecution in Rome. However, he was miraculously delivered from death. John was then sentenced to the mines on the prison island of Patmos where he wrote his prophetic Book of Revelation. The Apostle John was later freed and returned to serve as a bishop in modern Turkey. He died an old man, the only Apostle to die peacefully.
Peter,was crucified upside down on an x-shaped cross, according to Church tradition, because he told his tormentors that he felt unworthy to die the same way that Jesus Christ had died.
James the Just, the leader of the Church in Jerusalem and brother of Jesus, was thrown down more than a hundred feet from the southeast pinnacle of the Temple when he refused to deny his faith in Christ. When they discovered that he survived the fall, his enemies beat James to death with a fuller's club. This was the same pinnacle where Satan had taken Jesus during the Temptation.
James the Greater, a son of Zebedee, was a fisherman by trade when Jesus called him to a lifetime of ministry. As a strong leader of the Church, James was ultimately beheaded at Jerusalem. The Roman soldier who guarded James watched amazed as James defended his faith at his trial. Later, the officer walked beside James to the place of execution. Overcome by conviction, he declared his new faith to the judge and knelt beside James to accept beheading as a Christian.
Bartholomew, also known as Nathanael, was a missionary to Asia. He witnessed about our Lord in present day Turkey. He was whipped to death for his preaching in Armenia.
Thomas was speared and died on one of his missionary trips to establish the Church in India.
Jude, another brother of Jesus, was killed with arrows after refusing to deny his faith in Christ.
Matthias, the Apostle chosen to replace the traitor Judas Iscariot, was stoned and beheaded.
Barnabas, one of the group of seventy disciples, was stoned to death at Salonica.
Paul was tortured and then beheaded by the evil Emperor Nero at Rome in A.D. 67. Paul endured a lengthy imprisonment which allowed him to write his many epistles to the Churches he had formed throughout the Roman Empire. These letters, which taught many of the foundational doctrines of Christianity, from a large portion of the New Testament.
What kind of faith do you have?
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