DAY 30 LIVE|DEAD PENTECOST

I can't believe it's day 30!

What an amazing adventure.  Last night's words from the authors was amazing.

In today's reading:

Living dead is uncomfortable. I am personally not one for confrontation, but with the Holy Spirit we don’t have a choice. When we are unpleasing to the Lord, He will let us know it. We don’t like to be told that we are wrong, and on top of that we like to make excuses for it. Repentance is an important part of our Christian lives. And on the mission field, it is essential to the health of a team. Living dead isn’t about having it all together; it’s about confessing our deep need for Jesus to help us get our acts together. 

What has this Live|Dead Journey been like for you?  What do you feel has been happening in your Spirit the last 30 days?  Do you think God is speaking to you in a specific way.

LIVE|DEAD MEETING TONIGHT

All I can say is WOW!

I haven't sensed that strong a spirit for lost people in some time.

Don't miss more chances to interact with the Live|Dead team Sunday morning, Sunday afternoon from 3 - 5 and then Sunday PM.

I keep hearing this in my head from tonight - "THIS MUST STOP."

Lord - use us to help stop it.

DAY 29 LIVE|DEAD FORGIVENESS

Forgiveness has its cost, but its gains are well worth it because it brings
freedom. Sometimes the relief is immediate. Sometimes it is a longer process,
but freedom will come and we are better people for it. Our words will no
longer carry that edge we think others haven’t noticed. Our unforgiveness is
no longer visible in our jokes, our jabs, and our body language. When there is
forgiveness we look differently, feel differently, and respond differently. We can
get on with what God wants for us. When we recognize our need to forgive
and actually pass the forgiveness exam, we have more emotional energy, we
are healthier, and we are free! And that was His plan all along.

DAY 28 LIVE|DEAD PIONEERING

From today's reading:

Martin, Sheikdon, Christine, Colin, Libaan, Farah—all died for their faith.
All died violently. When our dear friend, Martin Utzi, was questioned about
the safety of taking his wife and young children to Somaliland, he answered,
“If what we are doing is not worth dying for, then it is not worth living for.”
Only a short time later, as his 3-year-old son looked on, sweet, gentle Martin
died from a gunshot to the head. Our friends won’t have biographies written
about them. Few people know of their sacrifice. Yet, in dying, they show us
how to live.

The author ends by asking who will go to these people?  Who will go?  Will one of us go?

As we draw nearer to the end of the Live|Dead Journey, I sense in my spirit that God is speaking to someone to go - maybe not to the Somalis, but to go somewhere. 

These hero's of the faith - Martin, Shekidon, Christine, Colin - in their death they have shown us how to live.  Is the person God is putting in my heart you? 

Lord, I pray the courage to go.  Lord, I pray the strength to surrender to your plan and your will.  Lord, I pray that the individual you are speaking to will reach out and step out in faith.  Lord, send one of us I pray.  Amen.

DAY 27 LIVE|DEAD TEAM

Team.

Who are you working with and for?  What team are you on? 

Today in the comment area - let's pray for the teams we are on.  If you need a team to be on - ask about it.  Maybe someone on here will have the team - that's right for you!

DAY 25 LIVE|DEAD HUMILITY AND AFAR

So what does it mean to be humble in the biblical sense? We need look no further than the characteristics of Jesus. He had every right to see Himself as special, privileged, and worthy of honor. But instead, He displayed a deferential attitude and became subservient to those He sought to seek and to save. Should I not emulate Him in those very characteristics? Had my recent salvation experience taught me nothing? Through it, did I not recognize that my knowledge, influence, and power were very limited? Doesn’t the Bible urge us that “whoever exalts himself will be humbled” (Matthew 23:12)

Today watch this Afar Video and pray that they might receive Christ:

DAY 24 LIVE|DEAD GIVING

Today's author shared a video prayer request in his area in the Prayer Meeting yesterday.

We can't post it here because of the nature of the video and the area he is in...but I feel like we should all pray together for this particular need.

Their school in Sudan needs 7 teachers to go teach English.  This is the primary way they impact people with the message.  Would you pray that someone would go to Sudan? 

Would you pray and ask God if He wants you to go?

DAY 23 LIVED|DEAD

Nancy's questions are strong:

Do I find that I am inconvenienced by unexpected things that come my way, or do I see them as something God may be orchestrating and seek to join Him in what He is doing?

Do I see my home as a powerful place to affect a life for God?

What is the attitude of my heart in regard to the value of people?

Am I impatient with the “smallness” of serving?

Then from the video - "Great men/women of God become that choice by choice..."  WOW!

See you at the Live Dead Prayer meeting in the Sanctuary

DAY 22 LIVE|DEAD FLEXIBLE

Anticipate an interruption and welcome it as an opportunity, an event God has scheduled for you—even if it makes you late or it means that something you planned does not happen. In
the days to come, look for ways you can be flexible.

Today's a good day to talk about some of the lessons you've learned so far in the Live|Dead Journey.  This whole month is about being "flexible."

Share some of the flexible moments you've had - what are you learning?  What has God been doing in you?

See you on Saturday at the prayer meeting.

DAY 21 LIVE|DEAD

Thanks to those of you who have been so open and shared yesterday of what God is doing and has done in your lives.  Wow!  God's faithfulness is truly inspiring.

Today's author sent this message to us - it's one of the best one's yet.  It's about family and what role their children play in the work they are doing.

Please listen to her words.  They are powerful.

Then in the comments section - would you post a prayer for the MK's of the Live|Dead teams?  Many are facing hard times and difficult situations.  The enemy will attack them, if they cannot defeat their parents.  Let's believe God together for them!

If anyone feels a specific burden to pray for these children, email me - rjumper@firstnlr.com and I'll send you some of their first names to pray for them.

So glad we are on this journey together!

SPECIAL LIVE|DEAD INFO

Hey everyone I hope you are enjoying the Live Dead Challenge.  Just a quick reminder about a couple things coming up:


SATURDAY APRIL 28TH PRAYER MEETING 9 AM - 6 PM

This Saturday please come and spend at least an hour with other Live Dead Team Members praying for unreached people groups.  There will be special video prayer requests and needs presented.  Please come to the Sanctuary and follow instruction there at the front.  This will be a come and go prayer time with group prayer led some times and self-directed prayer at others. 

FRIDAY MAY 4TH LIVE DEAD AUTHOR FORUM

Friday at 7 PM join us for a special Live|Dead Team members only event.  You'll get to hear Scott, Greg, Dick and Steve share about what is happening right now with the Live|Dead teams.  They'll answer questions about what is an unreached people group, how they picked where they are going and what is coming up next.

SUNDAY MAY 6TH AM SERVICE

Sunday AM service is going to be amazing - don't miss it.  You need to be there in person - I can't even tell you all the cool stuff that is going to happen.

SUNDAY MAY 6TH 4:30 PM PRAYER/INFO TIME

That afternoon in the Fellowship Hall come hang out with the team and interact one on one with the Live Dead members.  If you feel God may be speaking to you about going to join a Live|Dead team, this would be a good chance to talk and learn.  Also, prayer stations will be set up there as well.

SUNDAY MAY 6TH 6:00 PM LIVE DEAD PRAYER EMPHASIS

Sunday PM service will be devoted for learning and prayer from the Live|Dead team members.

It's going to be awesome!  Don't miss it!

DAY 20 LIVE|DEAD SUFFERING

Listen to these words from our author:

Through the darkness, fear, and loneliness that had become my life, God in His mercy reached out and held me in a way I never experienced before or since...As I thought over my life, I knew that God had been so faithful, so good, and though my attempts were so feeble at first, I reaffirmed my trust in Him and in His goodness. 

Today - would you mind sharing in the comments how God has proved His faithfulness to you.

Let's share His faithfulness together!

DAY 19 LIVE|DEAD PROCLAMATION

"Don’t be silenced! Verbal proclamation is stillcentral to God’s plan."

Why is it so easy to pray for unreached people on the other side of the world - people we've never met?  
Why is it so hard to share Jesus with people on the other side of the room - people we know and care about?

Who have you told about HIM today? 

Here's a cool word of encouragement from today's Live|Dead Journal author:

DAY 18 LIVE|DEAD GOING

Today's prayer focus is the Antaisaka people of Madagascar.  I'd like to ask you to watch the following video.  It's an individual presenting the gospel in the Antaisaka language with pictures of people from this region.

The title of the presentation is "Are You Going to Heaven?"

Please watch and pray for the people who are on this island.  A team is being formed now to go to Madagascar.  Maybe God is speaking to you to go with them?  Maybe God is speaking to you about being a long term prayer partner for these people?

Please take a few moments and pray for the faces that appear in the video.  Pray that this gospel message we hear - will be heard in places it has not been heard before. 

Write your prayers in the comments section, and I'll pass them along to those Live|Dead Team members.

This is the translation of the message the man is sharing:

My friends, I am going to ask you a question that many people cannot answer, but it is a question that everyone should answer. "Are you going to heaven?" God's Word tells us how we can know.

First, you must be on the right road. The Bible says, "Believe in your heart in the Lord Jesus and confess with your mouth that God has raised Him from the dead and you will be saved." Jesus is the way. He said, "I am the way . . no man comes unto the Father but by Me." No other way is possible. For Jesus Christ alone is the way to God. If you have confessed that you were a lost sinner and received Christ as your Saviour, you have a right start to heaven and are on the right road.

Then there is an outward sign which others should be able to see. That is a changed life. Look and see if your life has been different since you believed. God not only intends to forgive your past sins but He makes you a new person. Many people think that if they add a few religious exercises to their sinful lives, their souls will be insured against punishment. Do not be fooled. Being religious does not save you. Only Christ can save you, and when He does it you are made clean inside. You are changed. You make things right with your neighbor, you have a new conscience, new desires and new pleasures.

The third way you may know you are saved and on the road to heaven is by an inward sign called the witness of God's Spirit, who comes to live in your heart. This is very real. You have a sense of belonging to God. There is no loneliness now. You are a child of God. He is your Father. You talk to Him with love and confidence, and can face anything evil without fear. You have comfort and peace. You know that your sins are all forgiven. Look at your own life and see if you have these three signs that you are on the way to heaven. Have you started right by asking Jesus Christ to forgive your sins and believing that He did it? Is your life changed so that you belong to Him and that He is now living within you? My friend, if you do not find these signs, come to Jesus now and be forgiven. The Bible says you should "believe on the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life." "Hereby we know that He abideth in us, by the Spirit which He hath given us." Jesus said, "Him that cometh to Me, I will in no wise cast out." Rom. l0:9; John 14:6; I John 5:13; I John 3:24; John 6:37

DAY 17 SCRIPTURE

Here is today's follow up with the author on Scripture:

We've all spent more time in the word this last few weeks, what have you learned about God and yourself these last few days as you've read the Bible?

DAY 16 LIVE|DEAD WILLING HEART

Today's author Rosemarie - sent us a special video message.  Please watch, it is powerful.

What do you feel the Lord speaking to you about willingness?

DAY 15: SERVANTHOOD AND MARTYRDOM

From Dick Brogden's Post:

Judson himself wrote to missionary candidates in 1832: “Bear in mind, that a large proportion of those who come out on a mission to the East die within five years after leaving their native land. Walk softly, therefore; death is narrowly watching your steps. The question is not where we will die, but whether we will die in a way that bears much fruit.”

God may be calling you to a Red death. That decision is in His hands. We all called to die Green. What is desperately needed now among the unreached of the world is the White Witness whether you are red, yellow, black, or white. As you continue with the Live Dead challenge, would you daily listen to the Lord of the Harvest? He may be asking the White Martyrdom of you.

Attached is more from Servanthood author Nate Lashway:

DAY 14 LIVE|DEAD LEARNING

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does
not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:15


Discipline requires action. How has Christ framed the command for you to “do your best to present yourself to God as one approved”? What do you need to do to be more?

DAY 13 LIVE|DEAD AFFIRMING

When we are genuinely affirming others by a word or by something we do, we chisel away a little of ourselves. The dying process begins. I would even go so far as to say the dying gets easier as we continue with the tool in hand. 

Powerful words.  

Today's author sends this special Live Dead audio message to us:

How are you going to affirm someone today?

DAY 12 LIVE|DEAD TRANSPARENCY

It's tempting to challenge us to "confess" our sins on this blog.  To go along with the vulnerability and openness that Chris recommends in the journal entry today. 

It's tempting, but probably very difficult for most people and probably not appropriate in a public setting like the internet. 

However, take the challenge and find someone to join with you in prayer to defeat the sin in your life.

Use the comments section today to type out your own prayer of repentance.  Let's repent together!