Tony French Speaks

As I see it, every contact you have with another human being ends up in one of two ways. Either you have blessed them, or you have cursed them. Think about the last person you came in contact with. Did they bless you or curse you? Now turn it around, what would their answer be? Jesus calls us to a very high standard of loving. No way can we do this without his help, his grace, his power, and his love.

What you think has a great impact on you and your life. Many believe that they have no control over what they think. That is a very dangerous and unproductive way to live. An alternative is to take every thought captive, to set your hearts on things above. What does that mean, and how could I ever do that?

Guest speaker Morgan Burns brings insight and encouragement to the followers of Jesus, and invites everyone to come to Jesus.

Jesus said that he came to heal the broken hearted and set the captives free. This freedom that Jesus brings is the best thing you have ever seen. This freedom is real and has great impact on you. You want this freedom.

God has given us a book, full of stories, to give us some info.It is a fascinating book. It shows us who God is, it shows us who we are, and it shows us about our enemy. We cannot fully live as we are intended to live without this knowledge. But it is not just head knowledge, not just a book of facts and history. It contains words that bring life. Today, by doing a survey of the book of Ephesians, we get a pretty clear picture of who God is. You want to know...

Jesus brings his new kingdom to his followers. He changes us. The result of those changes is that we are not fully equipped to love as he would have us love. Having done all of that, Jesus now has expectations on us. He expects us to bear fruit. We must, it is not optional.

Jesus does not just want us to learn from him and do what he says. Jesus wants you to fall in love with him. This is a funny request from a leader, Jesus put it this way, we must love him more than our family, or we are not worthy of him. This is pretty radical stuff. You can't control who you fall in love with, right? How can you fall in love with Jesus? Listen in as we discover the power that is available to us, the power that make us fall in love with Jesus.

You will never be able to consistently live in a way that is inconsistent with what you believe. If you are having trouble consistently following Jesus it indicates that you have some 'belief issues'. This is typical, and very common, but not NORMAL for followers of Jesus. There is a different way. Instead of focusing on your behavior, focus on Jesus. Know him more. Jesus gives us what we need to do this. He send the Spirit of Wisdom and Understanding, and he enlightens the eyes of our heart, so that we may know him more. Move closer to Jesus - the results are amazing.

Is it possible to hear from God? Does God still speak? Is God intimate with us? Does he want us to be intimate with Him? How would your life change if Jesus spoke to you? It appears that this is the kind of relationship that Jesus wants with us. He wants to walk with us and talk with us. I'm in Jesus, let's get this started...

We have been talking about prayer, and all of the great things that can happen. The way that mountains can be moved. But what about the other times. The times that it seems that prayer doesn't work. The times when our prayers seem to bounce off the ceiling. Do not lose hope. Jesus knew there would be times like this, and he addressed it, showing us what to do when we feel that way. Jesus really is awesome.

The earnest prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. There is a way that things work. To be able to pray with power and effect requires earnest prayer. We must train. This will take practice and we need to learn the right way. This is not unique to prayer, if you are going to master any skill, you must learn and train.

There is a way things work. As you learn a skill, and begin to master it, you learn the right way to do things, the way that things work out best. And with practice and perseverance, you become a master. To become masterful at prayer means that you will have to learn and practice the way that things work. Jesus said that we could move mountains when we pray. He said that nothing was impossible for us. You ready to become a master?

It might be news to you, but you have a kingdom. And, you are the king of that kingdom. No matter the size of your kingdom, you are responsible for it, and you have authority over it. You can be a good king, or a bad king. You can be present or absent. But the decisions and actions that you make as king will have an impact on your kingdom. That leaves you with something to consider. Will you reign well, or poorly. Will you exercise the authority you have been given, or not. No matter what you decide, there will be consequences.

Jesus prayed that we would be one. The Father and Son are one. Jesus prayed that we would be one with them. Unified. And one thing, not a collection of things, not split between things, but single-minded, single focused, one. That is the secret to kingdom living. You might see areas of your character that are lacking, or ways that you sin. You can put your effort and intention into change those things, or you can put your effort and intention into being one with Jesus. Guess which one will change you? Jesus is the answer to all of your problems and issues. Jesus alone is able to change you, from the inside out. Come to Jesus. Follow Jesus. Remain in Jesus.

Few things are as misunderstood as this. You are who you are because of your identity, not your actions. Your actions do not determine your identity. The Bible says there are two groups and describes it in several ways: sheep / goat, wheat / tare, alive / dead, In Christ / In Adam. You were born In Adam, and therefore a sinner. Jesus can change that. He can place you inside of him (In Christ). In Christ, everything changes. What you believe about this has great impact on how you life and what you think and feel. Jesus is awesome.

The Creator of the universe created free will. That means that you and I are able to make meaningful choices. Our choices have consequences. We can chose God or we can chose something else. And that is one indication of how much God loves us. He gave us dignity.

Because Jesus rose from the dead, we have hope. Real hope. Hope that can be our anchor, that lets us face the future, both the near term and the long term future.

You have gifts. You should use them for the benefit of others. Wishing someone well is a nice gesture, but on it's own, it changes nothing. It is our actions that matter. It is our love for Jesus that motivates us to love others, to meet their needs.

Jesus said that he was making all of his followers one. He said that we should live in complete unity. He said that if his followers lived that way, that the world would believe that Jesus was who he said he was. So what happened? Where is the unity?

Wouldn't it be great to know that someone was always supporting you? To have someone that was teaching you and revealing deep mysteries to you. To have someone to remind you of things that are true. Well, Jesus sent someone, The Spirit of Truth to live in us and to live with us. We are never alone, never on our own. We have help.