ACT Ministries Blog

Absorbing God’s Word

“One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God.” Luke 6:12

Applying God’s Word

The one thing Jesus asks us to emulate is prayer. Jesus relied heavily on His relationship with God the Father and the Holy Spirit.

Last week I attended an all-night spiritual retreat in the desert. We were instructed to respect complete silence. One hundred men in columns of two walking silently is powerful. We were met at our first stop by a pastor who read a scripture followed by a short talk. This pattern of walking and spiritual talks continued until about 2am when we finally pitched our tents and crawled into our sleeping bags. Then the silence of the journey was broken by a concert of snoring. I smiled and fell asleep thanking God for this time with Him and all of them. At 6am we broke camp and quietly headed back.

What was the takeaway? Doing God’s work is wonderful, but attempting do so without having a deep prayerful relationship with Him is not.

Accounting of God’s Word

When have I spent a night praying to God?   

Absorbing God’s Word

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9

Applying God’s Word

Very recently, my good friend and neighbor, Hector, invited me to a Hispanic men’s retreat that he was giving called Los Legendarios. Los Legendarios is a physically and spiritually challenging Christian experience that transforms men, their families and their communities. Trusting God, I put my concerns aside, stuffed my backpack with a small tent & sleeping bag, kissed Louise goodbye and was on my way.  

I have one word for this retreat, “Powerful”. I’m glad I attended, because I felt empowered by God and knew the Lord was with me.

Accounting of God’s Word

Am I strong and courageous or afraid and discouraged? Am I still looking for “Excuses” not to do His bidding?

Absorbing God’s Word

“As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him.” Mark 2:14

Applying God’s Word

When Jesus asked me to follow Him, I did not get up. I was handcuffed to my sin of pride and sinking into the quicksand of materialism. How could I drop everything to follow Jesus? As it turns out, He wasn’t asking me to.

Even though I didn’t get up and follow Jesus right away, I did add a game changer to my routine. I “Got Up” each morning and kept my appointment with Jesus using a prayer method called ACTS. ACTS stands for Adoration, Contrition, Thanksgiving and Supplication. Within 60 days there was a paradigm shift of sorts in my thinking. I didn’t have to stop living my life, I just had to live my life differently by living it for Jesus.

Accounting of God’s Word

Is Jesus asking me to “Get Up” and follow Him? What’s keeping me from having a daily appointment with God?

Absorbing God’s Word

“It had been revealed to Simeon by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah.” Luke 2:26

Applying God’s Word

The Holy Spirit was very much alive prior to Jesus birth. That’s how Simeon knew he would see the baby Jesus and hold him in his arms before he himself died. The Holy Spirit is even more alive today.

At a young age, I was taught to start all my prayers saying, “In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost.” I liked the Father and Son part, but I didn’t want anything to do with ghosts. Even though I sensed the presence of God at different times growing up, I didn’t recognize it as the Holy Spirit. I have, however, recognized it daily for the last thirty-eight years. I just needed to reject Satan and all sin, accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior, and give the Holy Spirit permission to use me for God’s purpose. God’s main purpose has been for me to see Jesus in others and embrace them with the arms of His Holy Spirit.

Accounting of God’s Word

Am I giving the Holy Spirit permission to use me for God’s purpose?

Absorbing God’s Word

“When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?” 1 John 35-42

Applying God’s Word

John the Baptist pointed out Jesus to two of his own disciples and they immediately left John to follow Jesus. Jesus notices that they are following him and asks, “What do you want?” Isn’t that the question Jesus asks each of us?

The day I decided to follow Jesus was frightening. Like the two disciples, I wanted to follow Jesus but from a distance. I was afraid of what He may want from me. Come to find out He wanted the same thing from me that I wanted from Him; a close intimate relationship. It wasn’t long before His unconditional mercy, truth, kindness, wisdom, compassion, joy and love impacted all the areas of my life.

Accounting of God’s Word

Is the thing Jesus most wants from me the same thing I most want from Him? Am I following Jesus from a distance?

Absorbing God’s Word

“When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” Matthew 2:13-18

Applying God’s Word

Today I was reflecting on “The Holy Innocents”, the children who died at the hands of Herod. Herod decided to kill all the baby boys under two years old in an attempt to eliminate Jesus. Mary, Joseph and Jesus escaped Herod’s wrath, but most of the other infants in Bethlehem did not. It must have been a horrific scene; Mothers who were frantically trying to save the lives of their children .

This biblical account is not unique by any means. Children have been brutally victimized since the beginning of time. Today’s world is no different. There’s plenty of proof that innocent children are still being abused, abandoned, sold and martyred. Like the mothers of Jesus day, we should do everything we can to eliminate the suffering of a child.

Unfortunately, the stories about holy innocents will not end until Jesus returns.

Accounting of God’s Word

Do I know of any children looking to be rescued or saved?

Absorbing God’s Word

“There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land.” Deuteronomy 15:11

Applying God’s Word

God isn’t asking us to help His people, He’s commanding us to help them.

The poor and the needy are the people Jesus sends my way throughout the year, especially during the Christmas season. They are the ones struggling with finances, homelessness, loneliness, sickness, fear, depression or hunger.

We need to see Jesus in our fellow man and be generously openhanded. Unless we keep our eyes on what Jesus wants instead of what we want, we will miss those opportunities.

Louise and I are constantly challenged to help that Jesus we find in the poor, homeless, lonely, sick, frightened, depressed or hungry. We are not wealthy, but we are not poor either. Recently, we helped a family with financial needs, gave two working women new clothes for their babies, provided clothing for an elderly woman and bought eye-glasses for a young woman who needed new ones. Sadly, we probably only captured a few of the opportunities God sent our way.

Accounting of God’s Word

“Challenge” Am I looking for Jesus in everyone or just the ones I want to help?

Absorbing God’s Word

“He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord.” Acts 11:24

Applying God’s Word

Most of us can count the number of close friends we’ve had on one hand, but most will never have a friend like Bob Schumacher. Bob died at 10:50am on September 23, 2020. His love for Jesus, his wife, children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, relatives and friends never wavered throughout his life; even during his courageous fight with Parkinson’s.

Bob would have turned 79 this last week. He was 51 weeks older than me, which meant we were the same age for one week. Although we met once or twice a week for 30 years, he liked that one week because I couldn’t tease him about being older. There was never a gift exchange, because we both realized that our gift to each other was our incredible friendship.

I could list all the amazing reasons Bob was a best friend, but the ones that stood out are “The Three T’s”; Truth, Transparency and Trust. Thank you, Bob. I love you. Thank You, Lord. I love You, too.

Accounting of God’s Word

Have I ever experienced “The Three T’s” with another person?

Absorbing God’s Word

“Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” Psalm 139:16

Applying God’s Word

Today is my seventy-eighth birthday. What does a 78 year old need/want for their birthday? Nothing materialistic. I really wish I had an uninterrupted hour with each of you. Probably because the most precious gift we give to anyone is “TIME”.

What have I found to be one of the most challenging things in life? Facing the TRUTH about who I tried be verses who God created me to be. Another personal challenge has been sharing those TRUTHS with you each week.

One of God’s greatest gifts to me has been the many accountability partners I’ve had over the years. Sadly, most have passed away. God never fails to send me new ones though. One of the newest is Mike Schmitz, the Chaplain at The University of Minnesota, Duluth. I wish I had an uninterrupted hour with him as well.

Below is the link to last Sunday’s sermon by Fr. Mike. He’s open, transparent, real, relatable and funny. I’d like to share it with you and I promise not to ask if you watched it.   

Accounting of God’s Word

Thank you for your friendship. You’ve blessed me more than you’ll ever know just by being a part of my life.

Absorbing God’s Word

“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 5: 16-18

Applying God’s Word

“It’s Impossible”! That was my reaction to the above scripture the first hundred times I read it. Surely the apostle Paul was out of his mind when he wrote it, right? Actually, Paul wrote it because his experience of praying continually brought him great joy and an attitude of gratitude.

Does praying continually really work? I know that it does. Even though I’m still a student of praying continually, I’m incredibly thankful for the immeasurable amount of God’s joy that comes from prayer. My prayers give the Holy Spirit the opportunity to open my spiritual eyes to what God is asking of me. In other words prayer is my spiritual antenna. If it’s not extended I not only miss out on God’s joy, I also miss out on the signals and promptings from God’s Holy Spirit.

Accounting of God’s Word

Do I practice praying continually? Is my spiritual antenna picking up God’s signals?