BEYOND THE HOSTILE MIND: Being a Christian

Where is the battle for control of your life fought? Romans 8, says it is fought in the mind. It is not what you do, but who you are that shows the commitment to the gospel life. Being a Christian is not to enslave ourselves to God so as to be afraid of him, but it is to become his child and call him our Father. Rom 8:15. The law was powerless to condemn sin in sinful man, so God condemned sin in sinful man by sending his son in man’s likeness as a sin offering to fully satisfy the requirements of righteousness under the law. Man now satisfies righteousness by living according to the Spirit; meaning, they have their mind set on what the Spirit desires and no longer on the desires of their flesh (sinful nature). Know that the mind of sinful man is death. It is hostile to God. It does not and cannot submit to God’s law. Rom 8:7-8. Therefore, in his natural state, man cannot please God. It is not what a man does, but who he is that please God. You must declare yourself his child through the acceptance of Jesus Christ, declaring him your Father, and you must submit your mind to His Spirit and have it controlled by His Spirit; then, you will have life and peace. This shows that the Spirit of God lives in you; meaning, you belong to Christ and carry the name Christian.

Living in Christ - Spirit to Spirit

In Rom 8:1 Paul talks about those “who are in Christ,” meaning those who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit. To be “in Christ” means living according to the Spirit. Being “not in Christ” means living according to the sinful nature. Living according to the sinful nature has been condemned by God. Through this we are encouraged not to worry so much about what we do, but worry about who we are in Christ. What lifestyle have we adopted? Do we follow our sinful nature which is also called “the flesh” or do we follow the Spirit? The self-evaluation is simply the following:

Life Expectations with Sinful Nature/Flesh...Life Expectations Living by the Spirit
All life is according to flesh desires.....Life is according to what the Spirit desires
Controlled by fear of death..................Controlled by life and peace
Hostile to God......................................Spirit of God lives within you
Cannot submit to God’s Law................Same Spirit gives life to your mortal body
Cannot please God..............................Puts to death misdeeds of the body giving life
............................................................Become Sons of God
............................................................His Spirit now speaks to our spirit
............................................................He assures us that we are His children

As God’s children we are co-heirs with Christ to share in his suffering in order that we share in his glory.

Event Updates from Thursday Night Live w/ Tony and Trish Radio Broadcast

· Sent a note last week but the announcement never posted. Seems I have been missing for a while – gone on vacation. I have been very busy in many areas of life. But, I do want to do a better job of keeping you informed.

· Had much fun on the show the last few weeks and I hope it was very informative. Two weeks ago we had Dr. Michelle Thompson and her cousin (our friend) Marvin Eans. They were discussing their business start-up creating and marketing a new custom designer clothing line they named Christian de le Foi. As Michelle told us, they are message shirts she and Marvin designed and pray over as they sow them into the lives of others. Encouraging other believers to use them as witnessing tools by “wearing what you believe on your sleeve” with unique fashion and design. Take a look for yourself at http://www.christiandelafoi.com/.

· Last week we had our friend David Panarelli discussing how God used their situation in raising their Autistic Children (two sons) to humble, yet strengthen him and ultimately birth his newest ministry as a Special Education Specialist teaching Flagler County’s only class dedicated solely to educating children with Autism. David told us of life lessons him, and his wife Marti, learned in raising their children, namely their older son Angelo. Also appearing with David was Dr. Linda Schell. Dr. Schell is a certified Marriage and Family counselor at Calvary Christian Center. We will be bringing Dr. Schell on more in the future for her input in addressing marriage and family issues. Together they were a great pair to have on the show.

· 07/10/09 I pray that you did not miss last Thursday’s show - July 9, 2009. If you missed you can see that show as well as the others by going to our “Thur. Night Live Archives” tab. On Thursday we had Janelle Johnson, who was formally Janelle Baker until 2 1/2 weeks ago when she married Soccer Pro and local native Eddie Johnson. She was pinch hitting in Eddie’s absence. Eddie's soccer team, FulhamFC in England started training camp earlier than expected and he had to leave. Janelle told us of Eddie’s history and then brought us “up to speed” with his career and shared Eddie’s future endeavors, which included starting a youth foundation to aid in educating and training local kids to excellence academically and in sports. It is an exciting venture and we could hardly wait for it to get going. On Friday, Janelle and Trish attended the Embassy of Hope Gala (Vince Carter’s Foundation) to network and grow in understanding regarding what is needed and expected in their future venture. Janelle and Eddie are young people who have experienced the grace and mercy of God and they openly show their trust and faith in him. When Eddie is in town they regularly attend Calvary Christian Center. We pray that God continue to use Eddie and Janelle in a mighty way and that He continue to Bless them more and more. You can follow Eddie’s season by going to his team website at http://www.fulhamfc.com/.

Busy and Blessed Weekend

Busy weekend ahead. Trish and I through Calvary Christian Center’s SHINE ministry will be at Bunnell’s Restoration Day at Carver Gym starting just past Noon on Saturday. We will be doing face painting, balloons, and kid’s games. We will be there with program coordinator, Jessie Love. Then, that evening I will be attending the Father and Daughter’s Ball at Calvary Christian Center at 7:00 pm. I will be going with my five daughters ranging from ages 16 to 27. This is an elegant affair costing only $10.00 per person. I am sure we will have great fun. Then on Sunday we head to for worship again at Calvary for Father's Day to celebrate the father of us all, God our Father, and his Son Jesus Christ. I am thankful to God for his graciousness towards me in all things. I feel truly Blessed in all things. - Tony

Love Lifted Me

John 4:19-4:21 says: 19We love because he first loved us. 20If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. 21And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.
It took me a while to truly learn but I still realized soon enough to make a difference and have implanted this into my everyday interaction with others. If not for the love of God where would I be? His love has lifted me and is what takes all the credit for who I am and what I have been able to do today. This is all wonderful, and many people get to that point but then stop with the lesson. God does not want us to only recognize and thank him, but he wants us to look into what he has been to us so that we can be that to others. Therefore, show the grace and love of God through what we do ourselves and what we say to others. Often times, we get to this recognition, but we fail to take it to that next step and give to others the blessing that we have been given by God through Christ.

Truth in Intercession and Evangelism

In Romans chapter 1 Paul gives us the example of truth in intercession and evangelism. Often we make promises especially to other believers that we would pray for them, their situation or their circumstance. But, we either grow weary of the cause or never have any intent in actually committing to prayer regarding the situation. We treat the promise of prayer as an after thought such as asking how someone is doing without any true desire to hear or discuss the response. However, Paul made it clear that he constantly remembered the believers in Rome in his prayers at all times. (Rom 1:9-10). He also evangelically longed to see them with the desire to impart a spiritual gift to strengthen the other believers that they may be able to mutually encourage each other in faith. He tells them how he sought to have a harvest even among the faithful believers. Paul expressed his eagerness to preach the gospel saying that it is the power of God for salvation of everyone who believes, and it is a gospel of which he is not ashamed. Intercession and evangelism goes hand in hand. Someone who has a true heart for outreach not only ministers externally in the physical but also in prayerful intercession spiritually. There is the continuous need for prayer and fasting both for strength and power to accomplish the tasks set before you with Holy Ghost power through and in Christ Jesus. - -Tony

Time To Yourself

First off, think about the last time you spent time alone with you and only you, physically and mentally. The last time you spent just ten minutes separated from the world of stress and worries and just relaxed. Sometimes a break works like a medicine in restoring inner peace. Establishing a routine of time to yours elf offers the opportunity to clear the mind of many worries that come with being a part of social groups and activity.

So whether that time be spent with God, or exercising, or just listening to nature. Don’t pass it by, take the opportunities to refresh and re-boost your soul. Recently I’ve noticed how hard it is to, just for a minute, completely forget about everything and relax. Especially since, I have been so immersed in activity after activity and worry after worry each day. But for my own good I have had to retrain myself to just turn off my wandering and seeking brain for just a minute and truly relax. It’s harder than you think!