Making time

I saw this note and it really spoke to me.  It seems that everyone (including myself) acts as if they are just so busy with their day to day lives that they get stressed out just thinking about it and don't do the things they want to do.  Is it true though? Are we really that busy?  Too busy to spend 15 minutes with our creator?  Too busy to spend time with our kids, friends or family?  I think that prioritizing our time is very important and often left out of our day to day thoughts.  "Lord help me be a better manager of the time You have given me."     Travis

Just cuz you have a license doesn't mean you can drive

Lately I have been noticing how many people that are driving on the roads are terrible drivers. I stare at half the people on the road an ask myself..how did they pass their driving test? How do they still have their license? With that said..the question "does having a license make you a legit driver?" is obviously answered.
Is this any different with "Christianity", lots of people say and actually do believe in Jesus Christ, believe He's real..He's God..He's coming back..made us etc. Does that make you a Christian? The answer is NO.. It makes you a believer... (so is the devil) are we living as believers...or Christ followers...A real Christian is a disciple and a disciple is someone who pushes themselves aside and lives to know, listen and obey Jesus Christ.

You see, so often we get caught in believing in God...and trying to do the right things...instead of truly committing to become His thing! I don't want to just believe and do, I want to live to become the exact person God created me to be. So I challenge you to ask yourselves...are you just believing and trying to do the things you know you should and have to..or are you living this life to become the son or daughter that can change and shake nations for God's kingdom?

Kyle Johnson

Take me In

As the deer longs for streams of water,
      so I long for you, O God.
  I thirst for God, the living God!!!

                 Gaby

The Growth

This is now 2012, the last year has gone by so quickly and this new year i feel that God is changing and making things new. This year for me i want to be a year of growing tremendoulsy and tuning my ear to hear his still small voice. I wanna be as close to his as possible.

For new years we (altars band) went to TN to play for a church my uncle goes to, and it went awesome. The lord really spoke to me in a really different way. The guy that talked spoke on "watchmen" we are the watchmen over certain things. God has placed every single one of us to a thing/person/family to watch over . That weekend i believe God really told me who i am to watch over and keep under my wing as the way that i look at it. I wanna be faithful to his word and what he told me so i am.

-austin

The Beauty of Simplicity

Countless times I have been in a meeting or a service with a phenomenal band, sound system, etc. but it is missing something.  Then out of nowhere something shifts.  Looking back on those times it has been the mention of His name.  It seems so simple in our minds but truthfully that's all it takes for us to go to the next level of worship.

I have learned over the years that keeping my worship focused and simple has a greater impact for the kingdom.  I love how Paul said it when he wrote this in 1 Cor. 2:

1) You'll remember, friends, that when I first came to you to let you in on God's master stroke, I didn't try to impress you with polished speeches and the latest philosophy.
2) I deliberately kept it plain and simple: first Jesus and who he is; then Jesus and what he did-Jesus crucified.

3) I was unsure of how to go about this, and felt totally inadequate-I was scared to death, if you want the truth of it -
4) and so nothing I said could have impressed you or anyone else. But the Message came through anyway. God's Spirit and God's power did it, 
5) which made it clear that your life of faith is a response to God's power, not to some fancy mental or emotional footwork by me or anyone else.


WOW! That is simple yet powerful.  That is the approach that I take to worship and I think we all should take.  I have been in and seen to many services that are about a program and cool lights.  Now I am certainly not saying there is anything wrong with either.  I believe that order has it's place and the atmosphere is important and can actually add to the service but some of the most powerful times we have had as a band and as a ministry have come in the upper room of our Pastor's home and even in a gathering where we were brought to complete silence before the Lord just by uttering His name.

I am still amazed daily at the fact that God chose me to be a part of such an amazing group of people and be part of what He is doing throughout the earth.  My mind cannot comprehend it sometimes.  Knowing that He knew all the wrong I would do and STILL choose me to be a part of His purpose in the Kingdom.....how can I not praise the name of Jesus.  HE IS WORTHY! HE IS HOLY! HE RANSOMED ME FROM DEATH! He has given each of us the opportunity to come to Him and into His presence anytime we wish.  That is not something that I take for granted and non of us ever should.

I believe that we have to come to the realization that God doesn't care about our mess and what we have been through.  He cares about our future and where we are going in Him and what we are destined for.  We have to start looking past our mistakes.  Repent, learn, grow, and move on in Him and under the covering of His grace and mercy that is freely given.  We are called to seek and save those who are lost and we must have victory in our own lives in order to do that. We are a chosen generation for the kingdom of God!  We are people who are called for such a time as this!

Let me leave you with this.  I have a challenge for you this week!!! As Paul wrote in verse 5 above,"your life of faith is a response to God's power, not to some fancy mental or emotional footwork by me or anyone else", let your prayers and declarations come forth in faith.  Each day at least once a day but preferably all throughout the day declare who God is and His power and goodness.  No need to have a super long, drawn out, theological prayer but keep it simple as Paul did.  I can guarantee you that you will see a difference in your week.  God is after those who worship Him in Spirit and in truth and will come to Him and after Him in faith!

Love you all,
-Altars Band-
Josh Lambert

Where's my Faith??

Sometimes it’s so hard to believe that everything will be ok when circumstances around you tell you that everything is not ok.

We all go through those battles in life when our hearts want to believe that good things will happen but our minds reason and evaluate the situations in our lives and they just tell us that the things we hope for won’t ever happen. 

So what do you do to quiet your mind and listen to your heart ...

What do you do to believe again?...

Hebrews 1:11 says:

 Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see. (NLT)

But where do we get confidence, hope and assurance from? 

Our abilities, money or any “good thing” in us might give us some confidence.

But what happens when our abilities and our money can’t solve a situation?

The confidence, hope and assurance that we need comes from knowing God.

Is not just about knowing that He is good and that He loves you. It’s about being so close to Him that you can “taste and see that He is good”!!! it’s about having a conviction of His Love!!! When you have this conviction you have confidence because you KNOW that He has every situation of your life under control. 

When you Know Him you also know there’s no problem or situation bigger than Him. 

So how do you get to know Him? He wants us to seek Him with our whole hearts (Jeremiah 29:13) and He wants us to take time to listen to HIs voice..

The bible says in Romans 10:17 that “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”

IF WE TAKE TIME TO HEAR HIS WORDS THESE IS THE KIND OF THINGS WE WILL HEAR:

-[He] is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us Ephesians 3:20

-God’s will for you, is good and pleasing and perfect. Romans 12:2

-I know what I'm doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for. Jeremiah 29:11 

-He has made everything beautiful in its time. Ec. 3:11

-we are more than conquerors through him who loved us...neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God.. Romans 8:37-39

-HIS LOVE NEVER FAILS!!!!!!!!! 1Co. 13:8

So when problems come or when life just doesn’t look they way we would want it to look , instead of wasting time focusing on our problems or situations we have to decide to focus on God, on His goodnes, His power and His Love. Only by doing this we will have the confidence, hope and assurance that we need to know that EVERYTHING will be OK !!!

Gaby

No more ‘Walkman’ people.

Uncertainty is scary.
It is human nature to want to know everything and feel in control of every situation. We like to feel like we have some sort of remote we created and press buttons to our liking, settle for what we thing works for us, and never move from there because who knows what would happen if we did. But the dark side of always wanting to be in control and always go for what we know is that we will never get to experience new and exciting things, better things, or worse yet, we'll never know what God wants to bless us with. We’ll always stay behind in our own little bubble, surrounded by millions of needles ready to burst it in the worst way possible.

Remember the good ol’ Walkman? Oh, the 90s… Since the Walkman worked for us because is simple and easy to use, we settled for it, carrying a bunch of heavy cassettes around to listen to the good oldies when we could have accepted a change, a new device called the “Ipod”. (lol).

“What’s that?” “Is it safe?” “How do you use it?” “How do you know it’ll work?” “Why would I want that?” “What’s the benefit?”

“Nothing’s for sure.”

“Ok then, I won’t use it.”

Lame, right? Well, sadly, we tend to be 'Walkman' people in life. Whenever something new is coming, we tend to see it as a threat to our “customized” life and we question it endlessly before we end up rejecting it anyway. Since the Ipod is new and “unknown” to us, we reject it first-glance without knowing is a positive change and continue to use our beat-up Walkman and carry with the burden of all those heavy cassettes we know and love, or hate, but we don’t have time to toss those out. Yep, that’s how many of us live as Christians. Even though God wants to offer us a life of unlimited glory, new blessings for us every morning, to change our lives, completely, make us anew, for us to experience new levels in the spirit, of knowledge, love, blessings, etc . We get scared because it doesn’t “fit” into our plans or lifestyle. So, we end up being Christians who still carry the burden of the past with us, we settle for the blessings that worked in the past, and a systematic Christian life. We miss on what God is doing and moving today, we close our mind to the new, crazy things God yearns to do in our lives; we are simply clueless and miserable, and we end up blaming God for our misfortunes. We like to think that our plans are sacred and no one should mess with them, but as my mother always told me, “want to make God laugh? Tell him your plans…”

Something I realized along the way, is that believing in God is not enough, we have to believe Him. He loves us, and he knows exactly what is best for us. Everything he gives us and plans for us is for our own good and for the fulfillment of the dreams He placed in our hearts. If things suddenly change and you’re anxious because you don’t know what’s going to happen…BREATHE, and remember His promise, let God deal with it. Just rest in Him, knowing that He holds your world. He knows it all, we don’t. Isn’t it smart to give the remote to the One who really knows everything and exactly what we need?
I don’t know about you, but I will not settle for the walkman. I will not carry those old cassettes and hope for the best. I will not settle for what God did for me yesterday, or even today. I refuse to live a life in which I miss out of what God is doing. I will yearn for what He wishes to do tomorrow and embrace the changes that he wishes to bring in me and through me. Pain? That’s a given. No human being escapes pain, but I’d rather be inflicted by something glorious and good than inflicted by the world and its condemnation.

Crazy? Yep. That’s what is all about, baby. Living a life with God is crazy fun, and just...crazy, period. But the type of amazing and wonderful crazy you will never want to leave.
Get rid of your old walkman, the past is gone. Be open for what God wants to do today and tomorrow.

-Linda Angeles