'Now when he (Jesus) had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.' (Luke 5:4) 

'Great things will happen only as we launch forward in our service to Christ. Without Spirit-led, Spirit-filled action, our lives and ministries will become spiritually stagnant. Like Peter’s disappointing night of fishing, our attempts to serve the Lord in our strength will yield empty nets every time. As we heed Christ’s commands, however, we will experience miracles made possible only by the hand of God. Are you ready to launch out?' -- (Dr. Paul Chappell)

In my daily Bible reading, I am in the book of Nehemiah. Knowing that CEN’s call is reflective of this book, I am reading through that lens. Here are some scriptures that jumped out at me in regards to where we are currently…

Nehemiah 4:19, 20 – “Then I said to the important people, the leaders, and everyone else, ‘This is a very big job. We are spreading out along the wall so that we are far apart. Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, assemble there. Our God will fight for us.’”

Raising a call for preparedness in the church is a very big job! There are many areas that need to be addressed along the wall and at times, we feel spread very thin. As Christians, and as leaders, we need to be listening for the sound of the trumpet. The sound of the trumpet is what will alert us to where the battle is, where God wants us to assemble. The promise is that as we listen and assemble at these places, God will fight for us.

'And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men? For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal?' --I Corinthians 3:1-4

"During a meeting in California, I preached a message entitled 'How Saved People Can Become Christians.' The title upset a Christian school principal, and he accused me of preaching heresy while asserting that saved people were already Christians. Unfortunately, he missed the whole point of my message." (Dr. Les Ollila)

'For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.' (Isaiah 65:17)

'Heaven is mentioned numerous times in the Bible. Here we shall enumerate at least seven facts about it which are clearly emphasized: It Is an Incentive to Prayer (John 1:12); It Is a Place for Our Treasures (Col. 3:2; Heb. 11:8–10); It Offers Reward for Service (I Pet. 1:7).; It Compensates Being Rejected (Luke 6:22- 23); It Comforts Departing Souls (I Thess. 4:13); It Is Companion to Our Blessed Hope (I Thess. 1:10); It Bids Good-bye to the House of Clay (II Cor. 5:1-2).' (William Ford)

Center Stage

Devotional inspired by the song, Clear the Stage by Jimmy Needham

http://bit.ly/HEqmOT 

“Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing.  My brethren, these things ought not to be so.”  James 3:10

        This  month St. Patrick’s Day, Good Friday and Easter fall together this year, my mind started thinking about these two words, lucky and blessed.  Searching various translations of the Bible, I could only find the word luck or lucky in the Amplified translation in Leviticus 19:25, “You shall not eat anything with the blood; neither shall you use magic, omens, or witchcraft [or predict events by horoscope or signs and lucky days]. Also, in Esther 3:7 and 9:24 referencing “lucky days” and Haman’s plot against the Jewish people during the time Esther was Queen.  The conclusion is that the child of God does not live life depending on luck.

         How many times do we use the work luck or lucky when we really mean to use bless or blessed?  We know each day and our future do not depend on luck.   As believers we understand that we are blessed to be under the God’s care and are not just living a random life.  We should not attribute it to luck, but see the blessing of God’s love providing for our every need.