Wednesday, December 30, 2009

The One Year Bible

Hey, would you like to join us? Lisa and I along with our children decided to go through the Bible again next year Starting Jan. 1st. We want our friends and family to be immersed in God's word. We are going to use the One Year Bible..which has a reading in the old testament, new testament, psalms, and proverbs for everyday.

Five years ago...we used the One Year Bible and it was a great tool to aid in consistent bible reading. Would you like to join us?


Sometimes doing things together helps you accomplish more!


Choose your version of the One Year Bible:


NLT-New Living Translation
NIV-New International Version
KJV-King James Version
ESV-English Standard Version
Online version

We use the Day by Day bible for our kids 8 and under

They are for sale at Christian bookstores also! Some are only $10


Let's saturate ourselves with the word of God in 2010. Periodically I will post encouragement for keeping the Word of God central. A few months ago I wrote about the importance of the family table (click here). Now it is time to take it up a notch. The entire bible! One Year! READY, SET, GO!!!!!


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We did it!-Day 30 of 30 Negativity Fast

Today is the last day of our 30 day journey to rid our selves of negativity. It started Dec 1st with 15 reasons to fast from negative words. All the past blog post can be found here. Through facebook, twitter, word of mouth, church, and posters we have made a statement, "Negativity is out and positivity is in as we roll into 2010." I learned 10 key things on this fast.

  1. It is a minute by minute battle to combat negative words and thoughts.
  2. You can not tame your tongue you must tend to the condition of your heart
  3. The only way to get your heart right is to allow the forgiving and cleansing power of Jesus' sacrifice to cleanse it properly.
  4. Filling your heart with the Word of God smothers the negative thoughts and leaves them powerless.
  5. You really can address negative circumstances in a hopeful way. I learned to say "let me rephrase that" alot over the last 30 days.
  6. The greatest challenge to stay positive is often with the people you are closest to. (i.e. marriage, family, friends, and coworkers)
  7. "Dis" or "En" is a small prefix in front of the word courage that will determine if you walk in faith or walk in defeat.
  8. Discouragement is real and leads to other things like: Fear, dismay, feelings of abandonment, sadness, forgetting what God has said, terrified, weak, fear of enemies, disobedience out of fear, terror, you want to quit, doubt, intimidated, dread, and you believe lies about you.
  9. Encouragement is real too. We have the power to put courage in our hearts and other's hearts through our words and through the Word of God.
  10. This fast reminded me that God have given us a wonderful tool in our words and we can create atmospheres of peace and life or turmoil and death.
My friend Nathan Williams came up with a working definition of the word encourage.
Encourage: to put courage in (en) the heart. To have HEART means to have inner strength and courage.
Speak words to others that leave others with H-E-A-R-T:
H -Hope
E - Enthusiasm
A - Assistance
R - Rejoicing
T - Total Confidence

I need to thank you for joining us, my wife for all of her great blog post, my friend J.D. Stegall for his encouraging blog post, my friend VERSES for his poster design with Thinqbold media, all of the businesses, churches, families, individuals, etc. that took the challenge to be negative free for 30 days. And also for the greatest church family (Church Ablaze) who had to listen to me beat the drum of encouragement all month. NOW LET'S MAKE IT A LIFESTYLE..SHALL WE!
Take a minute and comment on what you learned?

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Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Story of a Super Model-Day 22 Negativity Fast

Can you believe we have 8 days left of our negativity fast? It has been encouraging in our household and our church. My wife is one of my main encouragers; she is my biggest fan. I love her! She is my super model! She models biblical, Godly womanhood with grace and compassion. She should be on the front cover of every magazine (fully clothed) with her 6 children, bible, and apron. :-) The only way to be a good encourager to someone else is to allow the God of all encouragement to encourage you. Lisa, shares in her blog How the word "But" changed my life (Click here), her journey from discouragement to encouragement. Please read it and then respond to her question at the end of the blog.

Enjoy!!

-If you feel like you keep failing at this negativity fast read this post, you may not have the right heart.
-Are you just having trouble overcoming read this post.
-Need a poster to help you remember to stay positive: 1) 11x17 Poster 2) 8.5x11 Poster
-Join in as we fast from negative words for 30 days. I wrote 15 viable reasons to join this campaign in a
previous post. Entire churches are joining, small groups, corporate offices, classrooms, families, teams, etc. are all joining in. This campaign will change your life! It is the right thing to do.

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Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Can you really change?-Day 16 Negativity Fast

As we roll into day 16 of our negativity fast. I read a blog post by my friend JD Stegall in regards to Death and Life. Please click here and read it in it's entirety. His writing caused me to realize that there are plenty of people that are attempting the negativity fast and have realized that they are really uprooting tons of negative words and actions that have been done to them that they have been reciprocating to others. I want to ask you a question and please send me your comments on my blog. How do you completely retrain your thoughts, words, and actions to line up with the way God desires for you to be a positive, faith-filled person if you never had that example growing up? What are your thoughts?

-Join in as we fast from negative words for 30 days. I wrote 15 viable reasons to join this campaign in a previous post. Entire churches are joining, small groups, corporate offices, classrooms, families, teams, etc. are all joining in. This campaign will change your life! It is the right thing to do.

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

12 days of Marriage-Day 15 Negativity fast

It is HALFTIME....we are on day 15 of our negativity fast. I wanted to encourage the married or engaged couples today. I saw on the Marriage Network Oklahoma blog a great plan to build your marriage during this holiday season and negativity fast.

It is called the 12 days of Marriage and can be found here: 12 days of marriage. The Marriage ministries in Oklahoma have networked to provide a comprehensive resource for the married couples in Oklahoma called Marriage Network Oklahoma. A good friend of ours Donna Edwards of Living Well Ministries leads the charge.

Whether you are married or not the Holiday season does not have to be stressful. Purpose in your heart to not yield your heart or tongue to negative thoughts and words. Intentionally, praise and encourage everyone in your sphere of influence. One of the greatest gifts is thoughtful loving words spoken from a sincere heart.

-If you feel like you keep failing at this negativity fast read this post, you may not have the right heart.
-Are you just having trouble overcoming read this post.
-Need a poster to help you remember to stay postive: 1) 11x17 Poster 2) 8.5x11 Poster
-Join in as we fast from negative words for 30 days. I wrote 15 viable reasons to join this campaign in a
previous post. Entire churches are joining, small groups, corporate offices, classrooms, families, teams, etc. are all joining in. This campaign will change your life! It is the right thing to do.

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Friday, December 11, 2009

Free Posters-Day 11 Negativity Fast




















Rolling into day 11 of our fast from negativity, there is nothing like a visible reminder of what we should be doing. I have attached two links to two sizes of posters. Click the images to download:
IMPORTANT: YOU MUST HIT YOUR BROWSERS BACK BUTTON TO GET BACK TO THE BLOG AFTER DOWNLOAD. DO NOT HIT YOUR CLOSE BUTTON.
1) 11x17 Poster
2) 8.5x11 Poster

This is a free resource that people are posting in their homes, offices, churches, schools, etc. Let's influence our environment with this poster. Hopefully, this poster will be a reminder to bite our tongues; to stop and think before we react; seek to encourage and speak words of life to people versus tear them down.

-If you feel like you keep failing at this negativity fast read this post, you may not have the right heart.
-Are you just having trouble overcoming read this post.
-Join in as we fast from negative words for 30 days. I wrote 15 viable reasons to join this campaign in a previous post. Entire churches are joining, small groups, corporate offices, classrooms, families, teams, etc. are all joining in. This campaign will change your life! It is the right thing to do.

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Thursday, December 10, 2009

Sweetness of the Lips-Day 10 Negativity fast

She did it again!! I have to take a moment to admit that my wife, Lisa Hill, is the writer in the family. I just blurp every now and then. She can communicate in two paragraphs what is takes me to communicate in and essay. Sweet lips are what we all need during this 30 day negativity fast. To keep my words encouraging I have intentionally had to keep saying this phrase, "hold on let me rephrase that." One day a few years back I accidentally called my home phone and ended up recording a message. Well I heard the stress and strain in my voice as I was correcting one of my children. I said to myself, "Jonathan was it really that serious?" I realized then and am realizing now, you can get the same point across with out the vocal undulations and snide looks. My wife really hits it home with her blog post on the Sweetness of the lips (click here). Let's share this sweetness with everyone we meet. Find somebody and surprise them by being sweet today.

If you feel like you keep failing at this negativity fast read this post, you may not have the right heart.

Join in as we fast from negative words for 30 days. I wrote 15 viable reasons to join this campaign in a previous post. Entire churches are joining, small groups, corporate offices, classrooms, families, teams, etc. are all joining in. This campaign will change your life! It is the right thing to do.

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Wednesday, December 9, 2009

How to Clean Your Mouth:Soap or Hot Coals?-Day 9 Negativity Fast

Day 9 of our 30 day negativity fast. It is our second week. Back on day four of our negativity fast I blogged about the Anatomy of the Mouth. In that post we revealed that there is a hidden component of your mouth which controls it's functions. "Taking a fast from negative words is not merely a physical exercise of controlling the motion of our mouth, but rather tending to the condition of our hearts." I asked a question, how do we tend to our hearts.


Through the years there have been several tactics used to attempt to clean up our speech. One of prominence is washing the mouth out with soap. I have also heard of people putting hot sauce on the tongue or making the transgressor drink Castor Oil. All of these means can instigate change, embed anger, or completely clean out your digestive system but can it get at that hidden component of the heart?

In Isaiah 6:5-8 (NIV) I found another method instituted by God and delivered by an angel: "Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty." Then one of the seraphs (an angel) flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for." Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"

During this first eight days of this negativity fast I hope you have come to the realization that it is impossible to rid your speech, thoughts, actions, and attitudes of negativity in your own strength. Some of us have probably felt like Isaiah in the above passage, a person of unclean lips and living among people with unclean lips. We can also glean from this passage a key prerequisite to having a successful negativity fast. We must have our hearts purged of sin in order to have our mouth cleansed of negative words.

Before a Holy God our best attempts are seen as unclean (Isaiah 64:6) and our need for help is exposed like a roach when the lights are turned on.

Hot coals represent purging, cleansing and pardoning. To be considered acceptable to God an unclean thing must go through purification. In this case it was Isaiah's mouth. In our case it is our mouth by way of our hearts!

The hot coals are not meant to burn your lips but rather clean your heart,
-they are not meant to scar your mouth but heal your heart,
-they are not meant to hinder your speech but qualify and bring life to your words,
-they are not meant to brand your guilt but pardon your sin.

God's word is like a fire Jeremiah 23:29. The Holy Spirit works as fire, Matt. 3:11. God's method for cleaning up our speech thoughts and actions are done by a means that effects us at the heart and conscience level. Read below:
Hebrews 9:13-14 (CEV)
According to the Law of Moses, those people who become unclean are not fit to worship God. Yet they will be considered clean, if they are sprinkled with the blood of goats and bulls and with the ashes of a sacrificed calf. But Christ was sinless, and he offered himself as an eternal and spiritual sacrifice to God. That's why his blood is much more powerful and makes our consciences clear. Now we can serve the living God and no longer do things that lead to death.

God wants your speech to produce life but it can only happen if it comes from a good heart that has been cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ. In the eyes of God there is only one acceptable sacrifice for our back biting, evil, slanderous, pessimistic, doubtful, and sinful words, thoughts, and actions (Heb. 10:14). God provided this sacrifice, His only son who was sinless and pure. Jesus was tempted at all points yet without sin (Heb. 4:15). The clean was given for the unclean. At a conscious level you can receive power to bless others from a pure heart if you put your faith and trust in Jesus and His finished work on the cross.

Don't attempt to do this Negativity Fast in your own strength. Surrender your heart to Christ and allow the Spirit of God to give you a new heart which will give you new speech with no soap required.

Join in as we fast from negative words for 30 days. I wrote 15 viable reasons to join this campaign in a previous post. Entire churches are joining, small groups, corporate offices, classrooms, families, teams, etc. are all joining in. This campaign will change your life! It is the right thing to do.

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Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Overcoming-Day 08 Negativity fast

We are on Day 8 of our negativity fast and by now I think we all realize we have plenty to overcome. Hopefully we realized there is no need to do this alone or in your own strength. My wife, Lisa Hill, resurrected her blog to pass on some encouraging words about overcoming. We have both been holding each other accountable in this 30 day negativity fast and it is transforming our home. Click the following Link: Grace and Truth and pass it on to encourage others.

Enjoy!!

Join in as we fast from negative words for 30 days. I wrote 15 viable reasons to join this campaign in a previous post. Entire churches are joining, small groups, corporate offices, classrooms, families, teams, etc. are all joining in. This campaign will change your life! It is the right thing to do.

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Saturday, December 5, 2009

A personal testimony-Day 05 Negativity fast

Day 5 folks. I am learning this is a daily battle that can only be done by God's grace. I have a good friend whose blog I want to share with you. J.D. Stegall committed to join our 30 day Negativity fast and dedicate one blog post a week to the subject. I pray that you are encouraged by it. He shares about his personal story of overcoming negative words and a negative life at: Today's Truth Writer (Click here).


Enjoy!!
.

Join in as we fast from negative words for 30 days. I wrote 15 viable reasons to join this campaign in a previous post. Entire churches are joining, small groups, corporate offices, classrooms, families, teams, etc. are all joining in. This campaign will change your life! It is the right thing to do.

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Friday, December 4, 2009

Marriage Crisis

Fealt the need to repost this from last year...Enjoy.

DON'T DO IT!!! Divorce is not the answer. Marriage problems can be repaired. Negativty in our marriages must cease. This post is for the couples struggling in their marriage right now. This post is for the couples you know that are struggling (pass it on). This post is for that stubborn spouse that wants to keep their problems a secret. DON'T DO IT!!! Divorce is not the answer.

This post is not a well thought out literary master piece at all. I just have an urgency to shoot from the hip. Last month myself and a few others took 30 days to pray 5am-6am. One of the main subjects was marriage. See our marriage prayer here at this post. At the bottom of the post are a few good resources that can turn your marriage in the right direction.

For those of you that don't know I am a part of a marriage organization called Eye to Eye Marriage Enrichment Community . For 10 years we have had ZERO divorces for couples that have been through one year of our "Walk together" bible study. You can read about the strategy here. We are throwing a huge party at our 10th sweetheart ball next year to celebrate. I am not here to sell an organization but if something is working you need to find out why. Let me share with you some quick bullet points that have kept divorces at bay.

  1. Keeping the word of God central as you build your relationships. Seeking Christ centered resources that fill your marriage with the TRUTH versus opinions.
  2. Creating a subculture of other married couples with the same goal of having vibrant marriages. This could be family, friends, neighbors, or church.
  3. Set regular and routine things in your yearly calendar that focus on building your marriage. This should include: Bible studies, fun events, conferences, alone and with and with other couples.
  4. Not keeping our problems a secret. Marriages are one of the most prevalent secret societies in the world. We cut our hand we run straight to the hospital. We run into marriage problems we bind each other to secrecy. This must stop!
  5. Recognize you are fighting a literal enemy! And it is not your spouse! Satan, the world system, and your own lust (sin nature) are all fighting against your oneness in marriage.
  6. When you run into a roadblocks WASTE NO TIME..get help quickly. Identify that seasoned couple that you can sit with to talk to. Have identified the church small group or Sunday School class that is focused on marriage. Be prepared to contact your pastor or Marriage leader in your church. Agree with your spouse during peacetime what you both will do when you run into wartime road blocks.

True confession: My wife and I have been married for 13 years. We have been through sex issues, money issues, communication issues, inlaw issues, etc. We are still together and each of our 13 years of marriage has gotten better and better. OK, here is what you don't know. All 13 of those years we have had an older couple in our lives that we have run to with our issues. All of those 13 years we have had companion couples in our season of life to live life with. All 13 of those years we have attempted to pour into others marriages through our struggles. Listen I am a pastor and a marriage leader and I have sought consistent help in my marriage. WHAT IS YOUR EXCUSE! Get Help! Get Help! Let the cat out the bag! Get some accountability for the most important earthly relationship you have.

Last story: There is a couple where the husband was caught in pornography, he was put out the house. For months they grew bitter and cold towards each other. Multiple children started building resentment toward their dad. Things appeared hopeless and bleak. Long story short, he is back home and they are rebuilding their marriage relationship and parent child relationships. HOW DID THAT HAPPEN!

  1. She never stopped praying and seeking God
  2. He never stopped praying and seeking God
  3. They both ran to their Godly friends for advice
  4. The both ran to their pastor for advice.
  5. They both started Chirst centered classes together to over come addictions and find inner healing.

They are still in the process of overcoming but THEY ARE NOT DIVORCED! Divorce is not the answer. Let's take a stand in this culture and build tall Guard Rails to protect this Godly ordained institution of marriage.

Got questions? I will do my best to help or find someone that can.

Join in as we fast from negative words for 30 days. I wrote 15 viable reasons to join this campaign in a previous post. Entire churches are joining, small groups, corporate offices, classrooms, families, teams, etc. are all joining in. This campaign will change your life! It is the right thing to do.

If you would like to receive email updates of my new post click below:
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Thursday, December 3, 2009

Anatomy of a Mouth-Day 03 Negativity Fast

Today is day three of our 30 day negativity fast. I am hearing moaning and groaning from friends and family near and far that it is tough to stay positive. Without a doubt, it is a challenging task. Since we all have three days under our belt it is fitting to understanding that there are some perquisites to successfully fasting from negativity. One of them is understanding the anatomy of the mouth.

Paraphrasing the dictionary Britannica.com, the mouth is the orifice through which food and air enter the body. The mouth opens to the outside at the lips and empties into the throat at the rear; its boundaries are defined by the lips, cheeks, hard and soft palates, and glottis. It is composed of a vestibule, open space, between the cheeks and the teeth, and a lower chamber filled by the tongue. In addition to its primary role in the intake and initial digestion of food, the mouth and its structures are essential in humans to the formation of speech.

The above definition tell us that the mouth is only a tool used for the"formation of speech" so our words originate from somewhere else and the mouth is a tool of vocalization. Read this passage below:

Matthew 12:33-38 (New Living Translation)
33 “A tree is identified by its fruit. If a tree is good, its fruit will be good. If a tree is bad, its fruit will be bad. 34 You brood of snakes! How could evil men like you speak what is good and right? For whatever is in your heart determines what you say. 35 A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. 36 And I tell you this, you must give an account on judgment day for every idle word you speak. 37 The words you say will either acquit you or condemn you.”


I like verse 34 in the NASB version which says, "For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart."

Quick summary:
  1. The origin of our words comes from our hearts.
  2. Words are like fruit and our hearts are like fruit trees.
  3. Our hearts can be evil or good, and in addition they can be filled with evil or good.
  4. Evil words come from an evil heart. Good words come from a good heart.
  5. Our identification to others is often formed by the fruit we bear or the words we say.
  6. Our words shape others judgement of us. They can reveal the judgement of innocence or the judgement of guilt.

So from the anatomy lesson above we understand that the mouth has a hidden component called the heart that really controls all of our words. With that being said, taking a fast from negative words is not merely a physical exercise of controlling the motion of our mouth, but rather tending to the condition of our hearts. So just how do we tend to our hearts? Give us your comments.

Join in as we fast from negative words for 30 days. I wrote 15 viable reasons to join this campaign in a previous post. Entire churches are joining, small groups, corporate offices, classrooms, families, teams, etc. are all joining in. This campaign will change your life! It is the right thing to do.

If you would like to receive email updates of my new post click below:
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