Al Jennings II

How to know if you fear God

Prov. 14:2   Those who follow the right path fear the LORD; 

those who take the wrong path despise him. 

It's easy to know whether or not you fear the Lord. It's as simple as this. If you follow the right path you -- do; if you take the wrong path -- you don't. Is that plan or what?The word of God gives us the right path.

Transformation nuggets

2Cor. 10:3 We are human, but we don’t wage war with human plans and methods. 

4 We use God’s mighty weapons, not mere worldly weapons, to knock down the Devil’s strongholds. 

Don't wage war with human plans and methods. Humans who don't know God operate in the flesh. As children of God we must purpose not to walk in the flesh. Whenever a child of God operates in the flesh, they pick up a weapon that is unable to defend them.

Neither do you become transformed by the flesh, or by any other human plan or method. Use God's method of transformation. And that is by the renewing of your mind (Romans 12:2).

2Cor. 10:5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,

You change any and every area of your life by changing your thinking, not by fleshly efforts. In other words, a person who thinks they have a drinking problem really doesn't. They have a thinking stronghold that causes them to drink. A person who thinks they have a weight problem, doesn't have a weight problem; they have a thinking stronghold that causes them to gain weight. A person who thinks they have a anger problem, really doesn't. They have a thinking stronghold that causes them to fly off the handle.

Change your thinking in any area of your life will cause your life to change in that area. Get it done! Throw down every thought that does not agree with the Word of God. Change your mind -- change your life.

I really enjoyed teaching the series on transformation. I would encourage you to get your hands on a copy of my new manual on the mind renewal process.

As you go, make disciples

I stumbled on this commentary by ElSeeDee on Matt 28:19 @ www.YouVersion.com
Excellent stuff on making disciples:

A more accurate translation of the beginning of verse 19 would be "As you go, make disciples..." The Greek word here for go is passive. On the other hand, the only active verb is "make disciples." Jesus isn't telling us to all be missionaries and go. He's telling us to make disciples as we go about our daily lives. For some, that daily life is to be a missionary. For others it's to be a mom, or a manager, or a mechanic. The important thing is not that we "go." Jesus expects us to go about our daily lives. The important thing is that we make disciples.

Remembering 9/11

Today Al participated with his ROTC class in a special 9/11 ceremony. Carla and I were proud that he was involved.
Ironically, right around the corner was the college where the two pilots were trained that crashed the planes.
Today we remember 9/11.

Groovin' 4 Jesus @Summit Indy Theatre Venue

The Redemption Story: In Plain English

Here's something that I'm including in Summit's new web site. It's the redemption story made simple. You can use this information to minister to those who have not yet received Jesus as their Savior and Lord.

The Bible is not a history book (although it contains history). It is the story of God’s redemption plan for mankind. Here’s the redemption story in a few simple statements.

1. Man is made up of spirit, soul, and body (1Thessalonians 5:23). 

You are a spirit; you have a soul; and you live in a physical body.

    Spirit -- the real you; the part of you that's been made in the image of God

    Soul -- your mind, will, intellect, and emotions

    Body -- your physical, earthly house that you live in

2. Adam was created to live in fellowship with God, to be like Him, and to have dominion on the earth.

3. God told Adam (God’s first created man) not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:16,17). He told him that the day he eats of the tree, he shall surely die. Adam disobeyed God and ate fruit from the tree. Sin is disobedience to God. He (and his wife Eve) sinned when they ate of the tree (Genesis 3:6). 

4. Adam was the head of the human race. When he ate from the tree, he died spiritually.

The death God was referring to was spiritual death. Spiritual death is separation from God. Death in the Bible never means to cease to exist. Generally speaking, death means separation. You will never consciously cease to exist - ever. You will live forever. When Adam ate of the tree, he continued to live physically. But he died instantly spiritually and his spiritual death spread to all mankind born after him (Romans 5:12).

5. Redemption. The spiritual death that we inherited from Adam put us in the hands of the devil. Redeem means to regain possession of (someone) in exchange for payment. Jesus came and regained possession of us in exchange for His blood. When we accept the free gift of salvation by making Jesus Lord of our life, we are born again and redeemed. Jesus said that you must be born again. The new birth is the recreation of the human spirit (Ephesians 1:7; Rom 10:9,10,13; John 3:3,6-7).