When Someone We Know Has Cancer

Dear Soulpants,

When someone we know has cancer or has a loved one with cancer, often we want to reach out with help and support. But how can we be sure the help we’re providing is what the person really needs? The best way is simple but often overlooked: Just ask. A good example of why this is important comes from an episode of the TV show Parenthood from a few years ago. One of the main characters, Christina, has recently been diagnosed with cancer, and two friends drop by to cheer her up and bring her a roasted chicken. Christina goes to put the chicken away in the refrigerator—where there are four more chickens just like it, leaving barely any room for anything else. These friends meant well, but because they made an assumption about what Christina needed—a chicken dinner—their help was not all that helpful. They could have done much more for Christina if they said: “What can we do right now? Do you need any meals, or help with transportation, or someone to run errands—or something else? We’d really like to help.” Then they could have acted based on Christina’s response—and helped in ways that Christina genuinely needed right then. There’s a story in Cancer—Now What? that illustrates the benefits of asking about and sharing needs: When someone you know is dealing with cancer—or any other life difficulty—take the time to ask what he or she needs, and possibly offer some suggestions of what you could do. That way, you’ll know you’re helping in a way the person will welcome and appreciate. Sincerely, Joel Bretscher Share This Caring Tip Feel free to forward this message to Stephen Ministers, friends, colleagues, or anyone else who might be interested. If this Caring Tip was forwarded to you and you would like to subscribe, click the button below.  Please Note Soulpants did not create any of the above. It was a newsletter we received. Stephen Ministries has been so helpful to us we chose to promote them. They have no direct affiliation with us, save our LORD JESUS CHRIST.

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Reading The Bible Aloud

How long would it take the average person to read completely through the Bible?

Some really smart folks have come up with the average time of 70 hours and 40 minutes. Reading aloud at a steady pace.

The Old Testament comes in at just 52 hours and 20 minutes. While the New Testament is a mere 18 hours and 20 minutes to read aloud.

 

The Psalms, which is the longest book of the Bible, weighing in at 150 chapters, will take just 4 hours and 28 minutes.

 

One could read the Bible through in a year by reading less than 12 minutes a day! Try it yourself by reading a number of verses, at a steady rate, aloud. Time yourself and count the words you have read.

 

The number of words in the Bible is about 622,771 Old Testament, and 184,590 New Testament, a grand total of 807, 361. A bit of simple math and you will know just how long you need to read your Bible all the way through out loud. Obviously, a different translation like the Amplified would take longer.

 

In Bible times the scriptures were almost always read aloud. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Read it aloud to yourself, friends, and family. Wanna read through the New Testament in a month? Read 10 chapters a day and you’ll “git r done.”

 

You’re gonna get good at this!

 

 

Is The Alt Right Christian?

The Alt Right, we’ve heard it bantered about the news media but in our 30 second “sound bite,” world it easy to miss the full meaning of this term. Is it simply a media fabrication or is it something even more insidious?

“The alt-right—short for “alternative right”—is an umbrella term for a host of disparate nationalist and populist groups associated with the white identity cause/movement.” If you’re not familiar with the ideology of The Alt Right and why Christians must denounce them, here is an excellent, summary explanation.

Every nation. Every Tribe. Every Tongue. Worships freely before the Throne in Heaven. Jesus made us all and loves us all. The tower of Babel was a placing of dividing people to slow down the rapid advance of sin, the Cross of Christ is the place where all races are to be reunited in Jesus. Christians must denounce the Alt-Right.  The Article below is not mine, I couldn’t have done a better job. Credit to Joe Carter and the Gospel Coalition I have linked back the original site.  The original post here

The FAQs: What Christians Should Know About the Alt-Right

 Joe Carter / June 14, 2017

Earlier today, the Southern Baptist Convention adopted a resolution condemning the movement known as the “alt-right.”

The language of the resolution reads, in part,

WHEREAS, Racism and white supremacy are, sadly, not extinct but present all over the world in various white supremacist movements, sometimes known as “white nationalism” or “alt-right”; now, therefore, be it RESOLVED, That the messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention, meeting in Phoenix, Arizona, June 13–14, 2017, decry every form of racism, including alt-right white supremacy, as antithetical to the Gospel of Jesus Christ; and be it further RESOLVED, That we denounce and repudiate white supremacy and every form of racial and ethnic hatred as of the devil; and be it further RESOLVED, That we acknowledge that we still must make progress in rooting out any remaining forms of intentional or unintentional racism in our midst; and be it further RESOLVED, That we earnestly pray, both for those who advocate racist ideologies and those who are thereby deceived, that they may see their error through the light of the Gospel, repent of these hatreds, and come to know the peace and love of Christ through redeemed fellowship in the Kingdom of God, which is established from every nation, tribe, people, and language.

The resolution initially caused confusion because many Baptists—like most other Americans—are not familiar with the movement. A majority of U.S. adults (54 percent) say they have heard “nothing at all” about the “alt-right” movement, and another 28 percent have heard only “a little” about it, according to a Pew Research Center survey taken last year.

 

John Piper’s Journey Out of Racism

Many people know Rev. John Piper as a great Pastor and Teacher, fewer know of his racist up bringing. The divide in the hearts of humans has survived constitutions, kings, and societies. In our day and age, many have naively thought removing the signs and sanitizing our language, meant the end of racial inequality, tensions, and divisions. Racism is a sin! Very few people actually stop sinning just because we know something is wrong. Even fewer stop sin because others shout at the top of their lungs. There’s only ONE WAY to overcome sin for good. Only ONE WAY to move beyond “sin management” or “behavior modification,” the Cross of Christ.

John Piper boldly tells his family’s story of growing up a Christian Racists, and how Jesus and the Cross of Christ, brought him to a revelation of this wickedness, leading to repentance and ultimately full restoration. Watch this mini movie, you’ve wasted far too much time watching lesser things. Go beyond rhetoric, to restoration, unto reconciliation.  You’re gonna get good at his – Loving God & loving all people. – Pastor Chris

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Moving Beyond Fish Love

Realizing Your True Purpose, Identity, and Destiny

“I think that it is rather interesting that you think I am here to clean your house.” Augusta went on to explain to my wife that in her church in Brazil before she accepted the job to work with us…it was prophesied in that church, that she had to go take that job because the people she would go to work for would eventually come to know the LORD and then go on to have their own ministry.” – Actor Stephen Baldwin Testimony

My friends, how many of us identify ourselves by our occupation? Augusta was not a housekeeper, she was an Ambassador and Intercessor for Christ and His kingdom. The Baldwin’s encounter with Jesus started because a Housekeeper said yes to intercession and a humble occupation was the strategy the LORD used to place this woman (a Spiritual Giant in God’s eyes). This woman forever changed a family’s entire trajectory in life. They know Jesus because she prayed and worshiped. Who would be changed in your work if you believed God had you there on a strategic assignment? How would your heart and attitude change if you knew this was more than a paycheck and provision.

The Morravians: two young men from Herrnhut, Germany were called in 1732 to minister to the African slaves on the Caribbean islands of St. Thomas and St. Croix. They were told that they would not be allowed to do such a thing, Dober and Nitschmann sold themselves to a slave owner and boarded a ship bound for the West Indies. As the ship pulled away from the docks,  they called out to their loved ones on shore, “May the Lamb that was slain receive the reward of His suffering!”

Sometimes we lose hope and feel like failures when we’ve not enjoyed all of the success in life we believe we should. This phenomena even has a name, we call it a “mid-life crisis.” It often strikes at the mid point of our years but it can truly disturb and disrupt anyone. Don’t despise small, seemingly unimportant assignments. God may have you there strategically.

Surprised by the Love of God

Surprised by the Love of God

by Adam Wittenberg

9/10/15 Training and Events

He had never felt God’s love before, until the Lord broke in at Onething!

After nearly ten years of trying to pursue God and feeling like he “wasn’t really getting anywhere,” Jeff L. came to Onething.

At the invitation of his son, Tyler, Jeff drove from Rockford, Illinois, to Kansas City, Missouri, for the Onething conference in 2014. What the 62-year-old investment advisor didn’t know is that it would change his life and walk with God forever.

Tyler, who was working in the Partners department at the International House of Prayer, scheduled a prophecy appointment for his father with Ed Hackett and Chris Ferguson, two leaders at IHOPKC.

But instead of simply speaking encouragement over him, Chris and Ed sensed the need to get to know Jeff a bit first. When they asked, Jeff said he was feeling “stalled out” in his walk with God.

This prompted Ed to share a dream he’d had. In the dream, Ed was a defensive football player who picked up a fumble, but was immediately attacked by four large linemen as he started to run toward the goal line.

In Ed’s dream, the coach (representing God) shouted from the sideline, “Keep your legs moving and fix your eyes on the goal!” By doing this, Ed broke free and eventually reached the end zone.

As he crossed the line, the Lord highlighted Hebrews 12:1–2: “Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.”

What Chris and Ed didn’t know was that Jeff coached defense for a high school football team in Rockford.

The men connected, and Ed shared his own journey of how he felt like he had to work his way to God until he had a radical encounter with Him.

“When you don’t know if you’re walking with the Lord or not, there can be a heaviness, and of course sin comes in there and tries to take us out,” Ed said, recalling the dialogue.

He then asked Jeff, “‘Is this the day you want to drive a stake in the ground for Christ?’” Jeff replied, “Yeah, let’s do it.”

When the men finished praying, the shift was evident.

“It seemed like his countenance was just bright,” Ed said. “You know the change when someone knows that they know—it’s not about your words, it’s what Christ has done.”

Jeff knew that things were different, too.

“Before that, I’d never had a deep feeling of God’s love for me,” he said. “At that particular moment, it started. I could feel something, and it’s only gotten better and better since!”

From there, Jeff went immediately into the prayer room, which is held at the Kansas City Convention Center during Onething, to spend time with Jesus.

“Usually my dad’s always like ‘go-go-go,’ but he was in there for hours, just sitting there. He didn’t want to come out,” says Tyler.

Jeff then attended Onething sessions with Tyler and Tyler’s wife, Katie Jo. This blessed Tyler, who had been praying for his father “for a really long time.”

“I had my dad on my right hand and my wife on my left hand, and we were just worshiping the Lord,” he recalls. “Just to be in the presence of the Lord with both of them like that was really special.”

Since the conference, Jeff’s experience of God’s love has only grown. It carried him through an emergency heart bypass surgery in February (“He got a new heart spiritually, and then physically,” Tyler says. “We both had peace before the surgery”),  and now he wants to transition from his career and football coaching in order to pursue God more.

Jeff also wants to come back to Onething and bring his friends, most of whom “aren’t big believers and wouldn’t understand unless I brought them there. I tell them, ‘You have to be in that environment and you’ll feel it.’”

And to anyone who has never been to Onething, or is thinking about coming, Jeff’s invitation is just as encouraging.

“You’ve got to come to this because it’s life-changing, for you and your family,” he says. “You’ve got to get there. You’ve got to see it for yourself.”

Prophetic ministry is offered to Onething 2015 attendees. Registration opens December 28 and is available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Adam Wittenberg

 A Detroit native who was raised in Vermont and Connecticut, Adam worked as a newspaper journalist until 2012, when he moved to Kansas City to complete the Intro to IHOPKC internship. Afterwards, he earned a four-year certificate in House of Prayer Leadership from IHOPU and is now on full-time staff in the Marketing department at IHOPKC. Adam is also active in evangelism and has a vision to reach people everywhere with the good news of Jesus Christ.