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A 64 year old suicide bomber. Grandma??? Is that You???

Written by admin on . Posted in commitment, grandmother, suicide, thanksgiving. 1 Comment on A 64 year old suicide bomber. Grandma??? Is that You???

As I sit here in my office the Friday after Thanksgiving with a “I can’t eat another thing” type feeling. I am mindful of how GREAT God has been to us. We have this remarkable Church and there are a host of people here today decorating the Church for our Christmas season. It’s always one of the best times of the entire year. For me personally, I can’t help but think of how many truly committed people we have here at the Shepherd.

Yet, in today’s paper I read a story of a 64 year old Grandmother who became the first suicide bomber in 2 years by Hamas, over in Israel. Here is this woman who straps a bomb to her body and blows herself up near the town of Beit Lahiya. She had nine children and 40 grandchildren. She is so devoted to her cause that she thinks nothing of laying down her life for something that she believes in.

And then when I reflect back over my life, I have to ask myself if I am this committed to Jesus Christ. So often I complain and yet Jesus made it pretty clear that to follow Him that we would need to give up everything.

It is my prayer that this Thanksgiving as we reflect and remember the goodness of God, that our gratitude will lead us to a deeper level of commitment. Will you not take advantage of all that God has done for you, all that God has provided for you, for the many times He has protected you to recommit your life to HIM.

You see we should be so thankful for His grace and forgiveness that we ought to willingly lay down our lives for Him. But he does not want you to lay down your life by becoming a suicide bomber… He wants you to lay down your life in serving others, in loving others, in pouring out his mercy upon others. That we would die to self and live for others.

Can you take a moment and ask God to help you finish this year strong. Ask God to help you die to self. Ask God to help you LIVE for others. I think it was Dwight L. Moody who said “The world has yet to see a man who has fully dedicated himself to God… Lord, Willing I will be that man”.

My question to you is quite simple. Can YOU be that man? Can YOU be that woman?
Or better yet, WILL you be that man? Will you be that woman?

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Written by admin on . Posted in favorite videos, military, thanksgiving. 2 Comments on HAPPY THANKSGIVING

I want to wish each of you a “Happy and Blessed Thanksgiving Day”
We have so much to be thankful for and I hope that you will take time today
to verbally express to God and to one another the blessings you have received.

My friend, Bob Hastings, sent me this video. I wanted to share it with you today because I know it will bless you and it will cause you to reflect and rememember the men and women who serve our great Nation around the world.

Ask God to watch over our men and women in service.

I love you.

Dudley

I’m planning on seeing each of you in church this weekend.

A LITTLE ABOUT A LOT

Written by admin on . Posted in a little about a lot, Church, thanksgiving. 1 Comment on A LITTLE ABOUT A LOT

Did you know that there are only 33 days until Christmas? I want to encourage you in the midst of the holiday rush that you plan on making Christmas a HOLY day to celebrate the birth of King Jesus.

Last Weekend we had over 7,000 people in church. We are still in desperate need for people to start attending the Saturday 6:30 pm service….especially those of you who attend the Sunday morning 1o:00 and 11:30 service on the Porter Ranch Campus. We need you to make the switch. 🙂

Did you know that we are on target to give over $800,000.00 to missions for 2007 and I’m praying that 2008 we will reach our goal of giving over $1,000,000.00 to missions. Can anyone say Amen????

Did you know your Pastor takes vitamins EVERY DAY? Yes, I’m trying to take care of my temple. But the Lord knows I need a tad bit more exercise.

Did you know that there are 750,000 children in the LAUSD? Don’t you think it would make a BIG difference if everyday they saw a copy of the Lord’s Ten Commandments posted in the hallways of their schools?

Did you know that we recently just completed the filming for the Life Group DVD lessons for the spring of ’08?? You didn’t think those DVD lessons grew on a tree did you?

Did you know that so far this year we have had more than 600 baptisms? That is quite remarkable. I want to thank Pastor Shawn and all of our decision counselors who help facilitate these decisions. Which leads me to this question: Have YOU ever been baptized? (Matthew 28:18-20 and Acts 2:38) If not, WHY WOULDN’T YOU?? Your answer to that question tells me a lot about your faith. More importantly, it tells God a lot about your faith.

Did you know that we now have more than 100 people on our church staff??? They are without question the hardest working staff in America. They serve every day as though they were serving the Lord Jesus Christ, which they are. I am so grateful for each and every one of them. You should see the prayer requests from just the staff. It is a lengthy list. Please keep them at the top of your prayer lists.

Did you know that some people who say “Our Father” on Sunday go around the rest of the week acting like orphans?

Last but not least.. I want to wish EACH of you a blessed Thanksgiving. I hope and pray that you get to spend it with your loved ones. Please take a moment over the next couple of days to truly thank God for His blessing upon your life.

I know that I am extremely grateful for each and every one of you. I believe that God has great plans for our church and it’s been a joy to ride the wave of what God is doing. We have had some great days…but the best is yet to come.

I love you,

Pastor Dudley

A DEMON NAMED JERRY

Written by admin on . Posted in devil, prayer, warfare, westside campus. 4 Comments on A DEMON NAMED JERRY

I don’t know how to fully explain this to you but this past weekend while I was preaching about Warfare Praying we had a woman in her 40’s come to the Westside Campus and she had a demon in her by the name of Jerry. She was shaking violently and you could hear the demon actually speak. The demon said that he had been controlling this woman for 10 years. That he loved her and that he would not let her go. The voice sounded like a demon and she had this evil look in her eyes when she spoke. The woman had come to church because she wanted to be saved. She stepped forward during the invitation and began to convulse and our counselors took her outside and began to pray over her in the name of Jesus. Danny Furukawa and a host of people gathered around her. Danny asked the demon what his name was and the demon said “Jerry”. Danny prayed in the name of Jesus and kept saying “the blood of Jesus” over and over again. Danny told the demon that this woman belonged to the Lord and told the demon that he would not have any power over her if she invited Jesus into her heart. The demon finally said, “Ok, I will leave. But I will come back”. The lady then fell to the ground and when she got up she seemed extremely normal. But when everyone was hugging this woman the demon whispered in Danny’s ear, “I’m back”.

Now some of you might think this is a bunch of hogwash but I saw this woman and I know this is real. Do you think this is a bit ironic that this happened on the weekend that I preached on Warfare Praying? I don’t think it’s an accident that this happened on this particular weekend. It is a vivid reminder that Ephesians 6:10-12 is a reality. We MUST be careful. We must be people of prayer. Satan is pulling out all the stops trying to disrupt and destroy.

I looked it up in the Bible this morning and there are OVER 70 different times in the New Testament where you find the word or words “demons” or “demon-possession”.

The Gospels are filled with stories of demonic warfare. Read Mark 1:32-34, Mark 5:1-20, and Luke 8:26-39. I am NOT trying to alarm anyone but I am trying to get you to arm yourself with the full armor of God. These are all signs that we are making a difference in Los Angeles and the devil would prefer for us to fail. Will you not read again the declaration to Satan from yesterday’s post. Our enemy is alive and real according to I Peter 5:8. Let’s continue to be faithful to the things of God. Understand who our enemy is and read again the notes from our sermon this past weekend.

In love,

Dudley

If you missed the sermon from this past weekend you can watch it at www.callonjesus.com

A Declaration to Satan

Written by admin on . Posted in devil, prayer, victory. 4 Comments on A Declaration to Satan

Satan, take note and listen well!
We are the Church of the Living God.
We are bought with blood, charged with power, married to Jesus,
indwelt with His Spirit, destined for victory, immune from destruction.

We’re part of the company of the committed,
the crowd of the covenant,
the congregation of the courageous.
We’re a fellowship of the faithful, a battalion of believers,
a regiment of the redeemed,
a division of the devoted, an army of the approved,
a team of the triumphant, and a platoon of the powerful.

Satan, you will not conquer me.
For I am blood-washed, daily-delivered, strongly-sanctified,
Spirit-soaked, in-Word, and indwelt.
You are wasting your energy on me.
My fate is set. My victory is assured.
I am linked with a sovereign and eternal power.

You are a deceiver, but you will not deceive me.
You are a roaring lion, but I am not devourable.
You are extremely subtle, but I am on to your ways.
You parade as an angel of light, but I walk in a stronger light.
Your days of deception are over with me.
I won’t be detoured, derailed, distracted, distorted, discouraged, or disillusioned by your schemes.

I am off limits to you now. My doors are closed and locked and I’ve thrown away the keys.

You won’t walk in, crawl in, slither in, sneak in, pry in, or barge into my life.
I have permanent and precious friend who lives inside of me, and He will not share this temple with anyone, especially you.

His name is Jesus.

He and I know that you know your time’s almost up.

You may lie, lure, linger, lurch, and laugh, but you won’t get in.
Your days are numbered; your designs are dwindling; your evil is eroding; your devilishness is dissolving; your progress is poisoned; your success has been subverted.
So get off my property; get off my porch.
Get out of my sight.
For He who is in me is greater than he who is in the world.
Leave my family alone; leave my children alone; leave my church alone; and leave my friends alone.

God is on my side. Rather, I’m on God’s side.
I have the same power that delivered Jesus from temptation and sin.
I have the same power that raised Him from the grave.
I have been promised the victory, and I have claimed that victory.
You can summon all your hosts, but you will lose the battle!

We are the Church of the Living God! Blood-washed, Spirit-filled, battle-scarred, unrelenting and indestructible. And in the blessed words of Jesus Christ, the gates of hell will not prevail against us.

In Jesus’ name.
In Jesus’ name.
In Jesus’ name.

Are you listening?
In Jesus’ name.

Amen and Amen!

READY AND PREPARED FOR BATTLE

Written by admin on . Posted in John, prayer, sermon. 1 Comment on READY AND PREPARED FOR BATTLE

This weekend at the Shepherd/Westside Campuses we will be discussing WARFARE PRAYING.

I don’t know about you but there have many times where I know I am fighting the Devil himself. Jesus told us in John 8:44 that when Satan speaks that “there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of all lies.”

I want to help prepare you for the battle. If you are living for Jesus you are going to have to face him. He will NOT leave you alone. He is not going to just let you follow Jesus. He is going to try to derail you from serving Christ.

This weekend, Lord willing, we are going to study different ways to defeat the devil. It’s time we walk and excel in VICTORY.

Please Join us this weekend.

Porter Ranch Campus
Sat 5:00 6:30
Sun 8:30 10:00 11:30
www.theshepherd.org

Westside Campus
Sun 11:00
www.mywestsidechurch.com

Or watch it live at www.callinjesus.com