Testimonies 

Bruce Hempel

Faith building experience - we have had these expensive dogs and have been trying to sell the puppies.  We have been learning alot about how to sell the puppies to people who want them.  This has been faithbuilding compared to salaried work because there is an investment and the reward is uncertain and we have been praying and growing to trust the Lord in the process.

David Teubl

1/2 way through a trial.  I have been taking alot of tests this semester and God has been with me through them.  Each test I would wait on the Lord and He would see me through it - not just as a survivor, but as more than a conqueror.  I'm getting tired of tests, but God has been giving me what I need for each test. 

I felt like I was beyond the end of the rope, past my own strengh where I couldn't go on - God said that its something that I need to do and He'll give the strengh I need - and He has.  I was having allergy problems (a big problem for pilots).  During the Men's Retreat I prayed to God and rejected the allergies and since then they have been decreasing.  When we go into a trial we shouldn't expect that we'll come out barely surviving - but that we will come out as more than conquerors.

I just can't afford to take a step away from God - the risks are just too great.

Linc Hard

Recently I started having allergies and God showed me that I had brought it on myself by saying "Oh I must have this allergy now".  We need to live and speak in faith.

Andres San Millan

God cured me of an incurable skin disease.

Brian Hempel

Our lives and our walk with the lord are kind of like an engine - if the spark plugs, distributer, and coil are all their and working correctly the engine runs well.  But if some components don't function correctly all the time then the engine runs badly.  If we are finding that our walk with the Lord is not as strong as it should be we should look back and ask ourselves if we are not doing something that we used to do in our walk.

Teaching Time

Bill Teubl

Luke 10
2 Corinthians 3

God wants us to be at work.  The term business is not in the Bible - the feeling of busyness is the outward sign of inward restlessness.  We should be free from busyness so we can invest ourselves.  In many cases more is not better.

Luke 10:38-42 - Mary and Martha

v40 - Martha was distracted by all the work.  Distracted here means encumbered and the second part of the word means "to be about to draw the sword".  This is how it works for me, I see some problems and my response is to draw the sword and attack the problems.  Our reaction is to attack the problem like we would attack in a battle.

Jesus reponds "you were worried and upset".  Here worried means careful (burdened with cares).

2 Corinthians 3:12 - 18

The attitude of Martha is from the Law, but Mary was under the new covenant (she turned to the Lord and the veil was lifted).

If we in the midst of our life and work turn to the Lord so He is present ... if we can do that there is freedom.  I think what was needed by Martha wasn't that she stop working, but that she pause in her work and turn to the Lord which would bring freedom.  When we turn to the Lord the veil is lifted and we see the Lord with unveiled faces.  The veil to put a word to it is "self-effort".  The freedom that comes is that we are freed from the self effort.  As we behold Him and reflect Him we are transformed and we manifest His glory -- that is the key difference between a Christian and a non-Christian.

Bruce Hempel

Serve others joyfully for Him willingly withouth being told to.

Nehemiah 1:1-4  When Nehemiah heard of the trouble in his countryland his response was to weep and pray for days - intersession.  This kind of praying takes time - Bill talked about busyness - I think one of the attacks on the Church is to keep us from having time to pray like this.

Habit - the application of time on a regular basis to an activity

Habits are very important because the help us to do what we should when they are good habits or if they are bad habits they bind us to things we shouldn't do.

I believe that many of us have failed to build healthy spiritual habits.  When Nehemiah took this time to weep and pray it wasn't a habit (he didn't regularly do this), but I believe that he did have a regular habit of praying.

Is there anyone that you care about enough to really pray and seak God for? Nehemiah cried out because he cared about his countrymen that much.  It takes love to pray for someone that way.  I believe our prayerlessness shows a need for repentance to God for a cold heart.  Many of us struggle with using our time rightly - if you do, pray.  "A fool spends their time on useless things."