Mark 3:1-6, “And he entered again into the synagogue; and there was a man there which had a withered hand.  (2)  And they watched him, whether he would heal him on the sabbath day; that they might accuse him.  (3)  And he saith unto the man which had the withered hand, Stand forth.  (4)  And he saith unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill? But they held their peace.  (5)  And when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other.  (6)  And the Pharisees went forth, and straightway took counsel with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him.”

How sad it is when people, who have an opportunity to see Jesus, entirely miss the opportunity! I believe the reason that they miss it is not because they do not want to see it.  The truth is (just as the Pharisees in the verses above) they have distanced themselves from God.  Because of that distance, they are now experience great bondage. This bondage creates “blinders” which inhibits them from being able to see Christ and His marvelous works.  Recently someone said to me, regarding their time in the morning with God, “Devotions don’t work.”  Devotion defined is “The state of being dedicated, consecrated, or solemnly set apart for a particular purpose.” That particular purpose is what drives misery or victory.

The Pharisees of all people should have been rejoicing in the fact that Jesus had come. They were teaching about the coming Kingdom.  They saw people responding and experiencing healing both physically and spiritually.  Yet, they would watch, murmur, and plot to kill Him.  Why, because their devotion was on something else besides Him.  Their hearts had become hard and prideful.   They were more dedicated to the rules and laws, than the law Giver.  They were blinded.  Jesus was doing things that they had never seen before and instead of getting to know Him, they rejected Him and tried to find fault with everything He did.

It’s sad! The Pharisees were the religious leaders of their day, they knew everything about Him, but never knew Him!  They were in church every Sunday, their prayers were long and they probably used big words.  They even had a public ministry because of the status that it would bring to them; but they missed Jesus.  They were more focused on their appearance than the condition of their heart.  They got busy doing the work of God, and forgot about being with God.  Don’t be like the Pharisees and miss Jesus.  Jesus desires truth and focuses on the heart, while Satan desires deception and focuses on appearance. Don’t go through the motions and miss the personal relationship!  Jesus tells us to love the Lord with all thy heart.  That my friend is devotion to a Person and that Person is Jesus.

Today, will you know about Jesus or will you know Jesus?  Will you see Him when He is working, or will you be blinded?  Will you desire His presence or will you desire your preferences?

I am Thine, O Lord, I have heard Thy voice,
And it told Thy love to me;
But I long to rise in the arms of faith
And be closer drawn to Thee.

Consecrate me now to Thy service, Lord,
By the power of grace divine;
Let my soul look up with a steadfast hope,
And my will be lost in Thine.

O the pure delight of a single hour
That before Thy throne I spend,
When I kneel in prayer, and with Thee, my God
I commune as friend with friend!

There are depths of love that I cannot know
Till I cross the narrow sea;
There are heights of joy that I may not reach
Till I rest in peace with Thee.

Draw me nearer, nearer blessed Lord,
To the cross where Thou hast died.
Draw me nearer, nearer, nearer blessed Lord,
To Thy precious, bleeding side.

Have a wonderful day IN the Lord!
Benjamin R. Burks

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Dear RU Nation

MANUFACTURE RECALL:  Here at Adversity University, we have come to EXPECT bad things to happen for the good reason of glorifying God in all we do and say.  It has become our expectation that whatever could go wrong…should go wrong! And for that we glorify Him.  So it came as no surprise when our new awards vendor called and RECALLED our recently received name badges that had been on backorder for so long.   The claim was “faulty glue” on the first 1,000 of 5,000 received.  We have no way of knowing which ones went out that were faulty; but if you have name badges with pins falling off relatively easily, please do two things.  First – call us for replacement badges.  We are expecting a new shipment (to come within next few days) which will meet our product quality expectations.  Secondly -  glorify God with us in being chosen by Him to endure difficulty through a another “pop quiz” at Adversity University.

2010 INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE:  Adversity University XI.  Mark your calendars for September 27-30, 2010, for another exciting RU international conference! You won’t want to miss this year’s crucial teaching.  As we develop our ministries through seasons of change and times of disappointment, we want to clearly pronounce that the only successful form of ministry is and always will be an expression of the fruit of the Spirit – love.  Join us this year for “The Way IS Agape”. Experiencing, enjoying, and understanding God’s agape love is the “first love” that we ought to never leave as our ministries become taxed with difficulty.  Directors, this is the year to bring you students and leaders , more so than any other; for your love for them can only be matched by the love they could bestow upon others on His behalf.  Nearly 100 educational sessions on effective outreach (evangelism), in-reach (discipleship), up-reach (worship) and down-reach (Spiritual empowerment) will be offered.

REFORMERS UNANIMOUS SCHOOLS OF DISCIPLESHIP—MAJOR OPPORTUNITY!  We thank the Lord for the churches who have helped us influence more people with the curriculum of RU by opening their very own discipleship homes patterned after our program in Rockford, Illinois.  If your church is interested in a ministry such as this for your community, we are here to help.  Whether you need help with your business model, ideas for finding affordable housing, staff training or advice, we stand by to stand with you.

Not every chapter can be blessed with what God has given North Love Baptist Church and its RU headquarters.  Our beautiful facilities and trained staff and teaching grant your students an opportunity to experience residential discipleship with a quality that is hard to duplicate anywhere—to God be the glory!  As well, we are fortunate to be able to do so at a price much lower than secular or social treatment.  Though we cannot afford to be a completely free program like others who operate out of apartments or houses using limited staff, we also understand we also cannot possibly offer help to every single person RU reaches with the current size of the headquarters’ facilities.  This has allowed us to be blessed to send students to churches who stand in the gap with their smaller, but still effective discipleship houses.  Personally, I think there could be an RU patterned home in every state in America and every one of them could be kept full!  That’s how great the need is for our low cost option or other’s no cost option.

With that said, we still want the Rockford RU to remain the first option for your student’s intense discipleship.  We feel strongly in our residency discipleship program’s success rate.  We are pleased to report our program success has grown even more effective over the course of the last 18 months.  Our recent survey of grads or parents of grads reports increase of those experiencing victory in Christ over their addiction from 82% to 87%.  Equally high numbers (plus or minus a few percentage points) report being faithful to church and in a right relationship with their family.  God has been so good to these grads who have continued in the things that they have learned.

*****With the opening of the new ladies’ home, allowing us to move our graduate program into the Mulberry facility, Rockford can now open more beds for both men and women and reduce our overall operating costs.  This is a much needed relief for us and also gives us the ability to offer something we have wished for so long.  For those chapters or churches who love or prefer the Rockford Schools of Discipleship and would like to send someone here for FREE, I have a new funding system that will allow each chapter that qualifies to have a FREE scholarship to the men’s and women’s home (that’s two scholarships) available to them at all times.  That’s right FREE!  If you are interested in this, please email me at weneedu@reformu.com or call me personally to discuss.  I will only be offering twenty church scholarships.  We already have two churches who have qualified and have students attending for free right now!  Call my secretary, Beth, at extension 100 and tell her you’re interested in the Church Scholarship Program for more details*******

WOMAN’S PROGRAM LAUNCH:  After 18 months of reconstruction, our men’s schools of discipleship have nearly completed our R.U.T.H. Home.  As with any church-based building project, we have faced many difficult circumstances and much resistance.  Through it all, our testimonies remained strong and God’s glory and many miracles were enjoyed.  We thank God for these hard working men who worked this project at less than one third of every bid we had.  Though our men had to work through capital raising slowdowns and city and architect squabbling, their abilities and resolve have saved tens of thousands of dollars. This good stewardship has been blessed by God in many ways.  Effective April 1^st, we will begin taking applicants for this new home and have decided to increase our occupancy from 25 girls to 40 as God provides.  With a recent graduation bringing us down to 20 girls, we are going to use a limited time special to help us fill this beautiful building with precious and needy ladies.  Please be advised that we are offering a 50% scholarship to the first 20 applicants who screen successfully for our program.  If there is anyone in your RU ministry, church or family who has needs or has contemplated entering our program, now is the time to make every effort to get them here.  We hope this offer will be met with the enthusiasm necessary to stimulate your students to give residency discipleship a legitimate part of their lives for long lasting benefit.

Have a wonderful day IN the Lord!
Steven Curington
Watch our Friday Night Class Live at 7 p.m. tonight!  Click Here

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To better understand what we would do when facing an unprovoked attack, let’s look at Israel’s reaction to a situation such as this. As described in Exodus, subsequent to the attack from the Amalekites in Rephidim, we see two actions taking place. First, The Jew’s had to do their part. Second, God accomplished His part. We all want God to do His part, the supernatural. As the battle ensued, Moses lifted his hands and the Israelites prevailed. However when Moses’ hands fell, the upper hand went to the Amalekites. This was God at work. Before God would accomplish His part; Moses, Aaron, Joshua, Hur, and the other chosen men had to act. If we’re going to prevail unto victory in this spiritual war, we will have to follow their example. This example includes the following actions; discussion, decision, daring, and dependence.

First, Moses met with Joshua, Hur, and Aaron and discussed amongst the leadership the steps of action to take. They then made a decision. This was followed by the daring actions performed as they fought the might foes. It took great daring and courage to face the Amalekites, having been delivered from the grips of slavery only sixty days prior. Often times we don’t see God do His part, because we don’t have any “dare” left in us. God blesses faith. We don’t have to, and must not, cower in the face of the enemy. Many victories and opportunities to see the Lord are lost, because we refuse to dare. Our part is also to have dependence. Moses held up the staff and holy hands to God. When he did, something supernatural happened. During the battle, some fought, others raised their hands, while some held up the hands of those which were raised. All together, they prevailed. Everyone needs to do their part in this supernatural warfare. We must always remain faithful until the sun sets and the battle is won.

What is the picture of God’s supernatural divine intervention? What’s the idea behind Moses holding up his hands? Here, there is intercessory prayer taking place. Moses prays atop the hill for God to intercede on behalf of His people, protecting and bringing them to victory. Biblically, the lifting of hands is not simply an isolated incident.

Ezra 9:5, “And at the evening sacrifice I arose up from my heaviness; and having rent my garment and my mantle, I fell upon my knees, and spread out my hands unto the LORD my God,”

Often in the scripture, you will see the servants of the Lord holding up their hands to the Lord. This symbolizes worship, as well as intercessory prayer. The New Testament equivalent of this is found in I Timothy 2:8. Here, God did His part when a holy man prayed, lifting his hands.

I Timothy 2:8, “I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting,”

It’s not simply for ourselves, but for those we care about that we are engaged in war and conflict. Here, Moses was indirectly involved, as he lifted holy hands to God on the Israelites’ behalf. However, he became weary, as we sometimes do, but failed to cease his intercession. We must take up the sword and fight, while also interceding in prayer, on the behalf of others. May we pray for our young generation, lifting holy hands on their behalf. Remember, Satan has unleashed every form of weaponry against them. We see similar instruction in Ephesians 6.

Ephesians 6:18-20, “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.”

Paul understood the importance of intercessory prayer and the weakness of our flesh. He begged those to pray for him for boldness in proclaiming the truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ. When Moses lifted up his hands and God blessed the Israelites, God was teaching us the importance of praying for one another. We all need holy hands lifted on our behalf. I encourage you to exhort the brethren saying, “I’m here to lift your hands up so you can pray! This is our part as believers!” Let us all be men and women of intercessory prayer. For whom did you pray this morning?

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What do you do when you and those you are leading encounter a time when basic needs are unmet? Whether we lead or follow others, complete dependence on the Lord is essential. In the last selection of this series on leadership, we discussed the assumptions that must be made when leading others in stressful times like these. This blog will deal with the actions which must be taken to effectively lead others during this situation. These actions include: passing responsibility on to God; reminding others of how God perceives a situation and how it’s up to Him to respond to it; and crying out to God for guidance.

Again, in Exodus 17, we see Moses in Rephadim, with the Israelites, at a time when they lacked water. Moses responded to their remarks against him saying, “Why chide ye with me?” He simply passed responsibility on to God. The Jews, at this time, were still young believers and didn’t fully understand that Moses wouldn’t be the source of water. Often, we place a false dependence on the person, in our lives, that strongly influences us for the Lord, instead of properly depending on God. Moses passed the buck! Remember, God had brought them there, not Moses. Effective leaders bring God into the equation and do not make excuses for following Him, nor the direction of His leading.

Why do we blame others? One never wants to be accused of chiding with God. However, we often pick out the human leader representing God and chide with him/her.

Next, Moses reminded the people of how God felt about the situation, as well as how God was responding to it. Immaturity often surfaces as one focuses attention on the placement of blame. The Jews were reminded that God was being tempted by their provocation. Moses said that God was becoming upset with their actions, as out of desperation they thought of stoning him. What provoked God was the fact that the Israelites neglected to rely on Him and come to Him first. Despite this, Moses cried out to God. God can lead others to meet our needs even if they are not privy to the specifics.

The last action in effectively leading others is to cry out to the Lord. In Exodus 17:4, “Moses cried unto the Lord saying, “What shall I do unto this people? they be almost ready to stone me.” He could have said, “Why didn’t you just let me continue to be a shepherd? Moses, however, was much more mature than that. He was a problem solver. He said, “Lord, what can I do? How can I help this situation?” In your life, when you see a problem, do you merely complain or are you one to find a solution. Moses was a mature Christian. He didn’t ask how or why, but what he could do to solve the problem. When he was put under pressure, he didn’t complain. He went to the Lord, and implemented God’s instruction. Moses had a clear responsibility to identify the need and act on it. It wasn’t enough to just pray, he had to demonstrate biblical faith.

It took a lot of faith to strike the rock with his staff at Horeb. We knew water would come out, but Moses didn’t. He had to exercise extreme faith. God told Moses to go before the people and take the elders of Israel. God understood that the older people would be a great influence on the youth. The Lord wanted people to witness the water spewing from the rock. Those that would witness this would be great spokesmen for God with respect to trusting and following Him. People in old Hebrew society had great respect for the elders. God wanted Moses to get these elders on board so they may get the “followship” of the other people. It’s important that the people with responsibility are eye witnesses to the miraculous hand of God. Even today, this is what hinders churches. The members fail to see the supernatural hand of God personally. As a result, they often lose the zeal and commitment needed to be effective in Christ.

As important as it is for me to see the hand of God providing, it’s of utmost importance for the young generation to be put to the test and experience supernatural provision for themselves. We will stagnate when we lose a generation of people committed to living by faith and seeing the hand of God in action.

Finally, we need faithful obedience, unto the Lord. To accomplish this effectively, we need to take action. We must pass responsibility on to God, remind others of God’s perception of a particular situation, and cry out for His guidance. Following this plan of action in your life, just as at the rock, you will see that great needs are met by faith.

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