There is Black Friday and following that is Cyber Monday. Black Friday is the day that historically retail stores break out of the red and into the black on profits for the entire year. It's not the day that stores will sell the most for the holiday season as record selling days will be the days closer to Christmas day, but black Friday is the day that economists will use as the barometer for all retail sells for the Christmas season.
Many people enjoy getting up early and fighting the crowds on Black Friday for those once in a season bargains. I'm not one of those. I would rather sleep in and enjoy my coffee and piece of dark chocolate while reading the newspaper.
Austin and Kelsey had to both work so Becky and I spent Black Friday together. I helped her carry in all of the Christmas decorations from the garage and after helping a bit with the tree and lights, sat down to watch some football while she scurried about humming Christmas songs and putting up decorations around the house.
We took a little break in the afternoon to get our Christmas shopping done without leaving the apartment. We got it all done online within two hours. That's my type of shopping!
While we shopped online, we were also helping the cause of loving God and people through using the Loving God Fellowship toolbar that we have downloaded on all of our computers. Each time we made a purchase Loving God Fellowship got a percentage donated to them through GoodShop.
The focus is not on where and how. The focus is on meeting together as Christ followers for the purpose of encouragement.
How frequent? Often.
How do we know this?
And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near. ~ Hebrews 10:25, NLT
When we launched LGF Mobile this month, we gave people opportunity to submit their prayer requests on the go. When these prayer requests are submitted via a mobile device, they go directly and immediately to either me or Becky. Every request is personally prayed over by us and we send a response to each one. I’m excited to tell you that we received our first two prayer requests submitted through mobile devices yesterday!
This functionality extends our point of need ministry potential from 1 Billion people who have access to the Internet and our online prayer ministry to the 3 Billion people who have mobile devices. This is a great milestone for the worldwide ministry of LovingGodFellowship.org.
Our next move is providing the functionality that will enable people around the world to sign up to receive encouraging text messages from us on their mobile devices. The cost of adding this functionality is $19/month for each 100 phone numbers who sign up. As we are not endowed by any group or denomination and totally depending upon donations from those we minister to through technology, we can not add this functionality without financial commitment from those who desire to spread the Gospel of Christ around the world through the technology platform that God has given us in our day to reach more people for Jesus. We are still awaiting the first monthly commitment of $19/month that will enable us to begin to offer this much needed and anticipated point of need ministry that will give us the opportunity of reaching 3 more billion people with the Gospel of Christ. Will you invest $19/month in this ministry today at http://www.lovinggodfellowship.org/monthly_supporters ?
Thanks for partnering with us in spreading the Gospel of Christ around the world through technology!
While many non-profits have went under during this great economic recession, Becky and I are still committed to live by faith and obey what God has placed on our heart for Loving God Fellowship (LGF) while steering it through these difficult times. Launching the LGF mobile site last week is testimony of this.
I'm excited about taking LGF mobile because it allows us to potentially reach 3 more billion people with the Gospel of Christ in support of our point of need ministry model. People will be able to listen to Christ Centric Bible Messages while they are on the go with their mobile devices. Our potential on the Internet is 1 billion people, so this now raises our potential to 4 billion out of 6 billion people in the world. I'm excited about this opportunity and feel that LGF needs to take full advantage of it.
Although our mobile site just has the basics now, more and better functionality will be provided as we go. Please take a look at http://mobile.lovinggodfellowship.org . If you like it, be sure and check the "like" button.
The next thing we need to add to LGF mobile is a signup for SMS texting. To provide this functionality will cost $19 per 100 users that sign up to receive text messages such as Be Encouraged! and notification of new Bible Messages on their mobile devices. Would you consider a monthly donation? A donation of $19 per month will enable us to reach 100 people around the world through their mobile device. If you desire to do more than that, each $19 will enable us to reach 100 people with the Gospel of Christ on their mobile devices.
Please know that all donations are an answer to prayer as we are not endowed by any group or denomination and we don't pass an offering plate in any church service. LGF functions only on what is donated by loving Christ followers from around the world who believe in what LGF is all about.
I received the following email that I feel led to share:
Just wanted to let you know that I am enjoying the study of Mark. It is so convenient how you have set it up that the student can view the discussed scriptures right as you are teaching them. How you did that is beyond me! Also another plus to the study is that you can progress at the rate you want. Some of the studies have been so good that I have listened to them several times and each time I gain benefit!
Each study in Mark is only 9-13 minutes long. If you are not yet following along in Mark with us, please join us . Please take a moment to invite your friends to join us also. Each study can be listened to individually or in a group setting. You can even facilitate a LGF gathering right where you are at!
Sean and Rebecca Lawrence are precious Christ followers who love God and people with a genuine authenticity. Sean is student of God’s Word and a gifted teacher.
Last month Sean Lawrence was credentialed as a licensed minister under Loving God Fellowship. Becky and I traveled to Middletown, Ohio, yesterday to attend a Bible study that Sean conducts on Wednesdays from noon to 1pm at the public library there. We were blessed and recognized God's hand upon Sean and Rebecca as they ministered to all who were present there.
Sean and Rebecca also minister on Sundays in the basement of a local church providing a meal and message for those in the community. They minister at the point of need as unto Christ and reflect through their words and actions what Loving God Fellowship is all about. Becky and I are so thankful that God has added them to the Loving God Fellowship team.
Please uplift Sean and Rebecca in your prayers. Pray for the people of Middletown, Ohio – that they will experience the love of God firsthand through loving Christ followers such as Sean and Rebecca Lawrence.
GoodSearch will donate a $1 for every toolbar that is downloaded between April 6th at 9am Eastern and April 9th at 9am Eastern up to $5,000!! Please download the toolbar right now by following this link - http://www.goodsearch.com/toolbar/loving-god-fellowship
Our new Loving God Fellowship toolbar is free to download and allows you to raise money for our cause every time you search or shop online! Once added to IE or Firefox, each time you shop at more than 1,300 stores (from Amazon to Zazzle!) a percentage of your purchase will automatically be donated to Loving God Fellowship - at no cost to you (and you may even save money as the toolbar provides coupons and deals as well!). The toolbar also has a search box and each time you search the Internet, about a penny is donated to Loving God Fellowship - http://www.goodsearch.com/toolbar/loving-god-fellowship
Please hurry and do this now so that we can earn the $1 bonus per toolbar!
And, please pass this along to all of your friends. The two minutes it takes to add this toolbar to your browser can make a lifetime of difference for our cause!
For the last six weeks I have been explaining on my blog some of the worldwide ministry that takes place through LovingGodFellowship.org. I am concluding that topic today with a list of links to the individual blog posts I wrote on the subject. I hope you will check some of them out. Feel free to comment on this blog and let me know if you have any questions.
We are living in a day where some churches devote more finances and time to buildings, programs and events than they do in taking care of the felt needs of the people in their community and encouraging their attendees to continue the point of need ministry of Jesus within that community during the week. Here in America there are churches that are thousands, millions, and some are billions of dollars in debt for facilities and building projects. There is church finance institutions in place that are thriving on helping churches go into dept. For a fee they will consult, loan funds and develop payback plans that will entice the church members to pay for the building projects that are oftentimes the fruit of the church leaderships pride and ego.
Some church facilities are only used a few times per week at the most. Pride is taken in accumulating maximum volunteer hours from church attendees for church activities that take place within the walls of these facilities instead of within the community at the point of need.
It’s amazing that the church thrived for over 3 centuries without building projects. From the beginnings of the church as recorded in the book of Acts until Christianity became popular when Constantine became Christian, the focus was on continuing the point of need ministry of Jesus. When the buildings started going up, the focus shifted off of needy people and onto needless buildings and the methods to pay for them.
We at Loving God Fellowship are seeking to help change this mindset that has held the church captive for way to long. In doing so, we have implemented what we call “building the church without a building” or “church without walls”.
May God help us in our day keep our focus on people and not on buildings. May we never put the needs of a building before the needs of people within our communities. Christ took care of people at their point of need. Christ died for people. Christ is returning for people.
What style of Christian music do you like? Praise, Worship, Christian EZ, Christian Pop, Christian RB, Contemporary Christian, Country Christian, Faith Rap, Faith Rock, Great Hymns, Sacred Psalms, Sweet Sounds of Gospel or a mixture?
We make it all available online 24 hours a day, 365 days of the week at LGF Online.
There you can click on the channels button on the online radio dial and select the channel for the style you like.
Or you can click on the search button on the online radio dial and search for your favorite artist or genre. You can create custom channels based on your searches.
For example, I like the songs of Keith Green so I did a search for Keith Green. A custom channel was made for me of Keith Green music. If I just want to listen to Keith Green, I click on custom channels and select Keith Green from the list of my searches. It plays song after song.
The resources of heaven are made available to us through prayer.
Divine communicated happens through prayer. We see evidence and examples of this throughout the Word of God.
Continual rejoicing, prayer and thanksgiving is the will of God for each of us.
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
(1Th 5:16-18 ESV)
Because of this, we have available an online resource that facilitates being prayed for and praying for others at LGF online. It is interactive and is a place where people all around the world list their prayer requests, praise reports and any questions about prayer.
How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!" But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, "Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?" So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
(Rom 10:14-17 ESV)
This paragraph of Scripture is what drives us to make Bible messages available to be listened to online at LGF Online, LGFinternetChurch.org or GlobalChurchOnline.org . The messages we make available are Christ centric, adhere to Scripture and are relevant to our day. They will grow the faith of each listener.
Many churches and ministries charge for sermons and make CDs available for a price. We don't and we never will. All messages are FREE and we encourage people to burn their own CDs of the messages and distribute them for FREE to friends and family. We trust God that as people listen and their faith grows, they will make donations as they can to help us continue to make these messages available to people all around the world.
We produce one to two fresh Bible messages per week to be listen to online or downloaded. As of date, there are over 4 years of messages available online and they have been listened to by people all around the world. Many who listen do not have local churches available and are in countries where the preaching of the gospel is restricted if not forbidden.
Some today have irregular work hours that keep them from faithfully attending a local church.
Some have no transportation.
Some are shut in because of health reasons.
Some attend a local church, but want more during the week that fits their schedule.
Sad to say, some do not feel welcome in a local church.
In some countries there is no freedom to attend church.
In some countries, churches are few and far between.
Since founding Loving God Fellowship in 2005, we have endeavored to make church available to these people 24 hours a day, 365 days a year utilizing Internet technology. We exclude no one. They can come just as they are, no matter where they are located. They are ministered to and encouraged by God’s Word, Praise and Worship, Prayer and much more.
People attend from all around the world. The site receives over 50,000 hits each month. Currently there are people who attend online from the US, Germany, China, Canada, Israel, UK, Russia, Brazil, Sweden, France, Thailand, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, India, Mauritius, Moldova, United Arab Emigrants, Japan, Denmark, Panama, Yemen, South Africa, Poland, Philippines, Netherlands, Indonesia, Norway, Spain, Singapore, Vietnam, Italy, Latvia, Iran, Czech Republic, Chile, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Hungary, Turkey, Mexico, Hong Kong, Kenya, Venezuela, Fenland, Portugal, Australia, Nicaragua, Belgium, Colombia, Costa Rica, Romania, Peru, Lithuania, Ghana, Argentina, Jamaica, Bosnia, Pakistan, Lebanon, Mongolia, Guam, Kuwait, Greece, Puerto Rico, Oman, New Zealand, Byelorussia, El Salvador, Ecuador, Austria, Bangladesh, Egypt, Qatar, Macedonia, Luxembourg, Bulgaria, Ireland, Bolivia, Bermuda, Morocco, Nepal, Syria, Namibia, Bahamas, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Cot d’Ivoire and Taiwan.
We truly are a worldwide church without walls that God is adding to daily! To God be the glory!
One of the many purposes of Loving God Fellowship (LGF) is to facilitate ministry through helping people fulfill the call of God on their life. In doing so, we offer three levels of ministry credentials based on the candidates level of education and ministy experience. The three levels of credentialing offered are commissioned minister, licensed minister and ordained minister.
Some who apply for credentialing will already have some Bible college or training and can apply to be licensed. Others will not yet have any Bible college or training and can apply to be commissioned. Commissioned ministers are those who have a recognized call of God on their life, but are not yet authorized to perform weddings, funerals and other ecclesiastical duties until they are licensed.
Our goal is to make ministerial credentialing as obtainable as possible while maintaining the integrity of LGF and it’s adherence to Scripture. The Dimensions for Faith certificate assures us that the candidate for license has a grasp of Scripture and theology with a willingness to learn and be teachable. It is also very affordable for the candidate to obtain while studying at their own location and at their own pace.
All LGF credentialed ministers are involved in active ministry, whether paid or volunteer, part-time or full-time. Although not all LGF credentialed ministers will be facilitating LGF gatherings, being a LGF credentialed minister is required in order to facilitate LGF gatherings. Our prayer is that God will lift up ministers that will facilitate LGF gatherings in cities across America and around the world.
What would happen in America and around the world if every existing church would encourage their attendees to volunteer time helping people in the community instead of spending their time in church activity or just attending church?
What would happen if church leadership would teach attendees that according to the New Testament, ministry extends beyond the walls of a building and the confines of a service?
What would happen if a church spent the same or more on helping the poor of their city as they do on buildings and the programs/ events designed to draw people into those buildings one or two times per week?
It is important to know what we believe and why we believe it. I personally believe that God’s Word is the authoritative guide for all all of a Christ follower’s beliefs and actions. That is why it is so important to read, study and know the Scripture as a Christ follower. It’s very important in our day because there are many false teachers, authors, prophets and preachers among us. Jesus said it would get this way in the last days. We must learn God’s Word and contend for faith and justice in our day based on what Scripture tells us.
Don’t rely solely on what someone tells you or you read in a book. A Christ follower strives to be so familiar with Scripture that they know if what they are hearing in church, through a ministry or in a book is correct or not. And when someone asks them “what do you believe?”, they are able to tell. And when someone asks “why do you believe that?” they are able to point them to the Scriptures.
I was online today and visited one of today’s popular authors and pastor of a very large mega church. I went to their “What We Believe” page to try to figure out what they believed and found a few very general statements with no Scripture reference at all. It left me wondering if they really know what they believe and if they believe that God’s Word is the authoritative guide to all of our beliefs and actions.
At LovingGodFellowship.org, it’s all about God’s Word. We know what we believe and why we believe it. We love God’s Word. We read it. We study it. We learn it. We point people to it. We preach it. And we live it.
The mission statement defines in words what an organization is in existence to accomplish.
The vision statement defines in words how an organization will go about accomplishing its mission.
Core values define the values in which an organization will operate within in everything that it does. These values form the very foundation in which an organization will perform work and conduct itself. Core values are always constant and define the environment in which an organization will abide in an ever changing world.
Twenty years ago, corporations developed mission and vision statements.
Ten years ago, churches saw the value of publicly stating and promoting mission and vision statements to describe what they are all about.
When we established LovingGodFellowship.org in December 2005, we saw the importance of putting what God laid on our hearts to accomplish in words utilizing a mission and vision statement and making it known. We took it one step further than most churches do though. We placed the mission and vision statement in our founding Constitution and Bylaws so that it could not be easily changed. With the mission and vision statement being in the Constitution and Bylaws, it will take a 75% vote of the Board of Directors to change what LovingGodFellowship.org is all about.
What are the mission and vision statements of LovingGodFellowship.org?
Mission Statement
Loving God Fellowship is an interdenominational fellowship of believers desiring to reach, equip and empower people to fulfill the Great Commandment of loving God and loving people (Matthew 22:36-39, Luke 10:25-37) and to fulfill the Great Commission of making disciples (Matthew 28:18-20).
What does that tell us about LovingGodFellowship.org?
We are interdenominational – we are made up of Christ followers from all denominational backgrounds and do not allow doctrinal beliefs, which are manmade, to stop us from our Jesus mandated mission of loving God, loving people and making disciples.
Our mission is simplified to the two commandments that Jesus left all of His followers to accomplish until He returns.
How can we love God who we can not see when we do not love people whom we do see? If we love people whom we do see, we will stand for justice and equality for all. We will use all of our available resources to care for the needs of people and thus continue the point of need ministry of Jesus. Along the way, we will show others, by our example, how to follow Christ just as Jesus has shown us by His example.
That’s our mission. That’s what LovingGodFellowship.org is all about.
The purpose of the vision statement is to dial in on how we will go about accomplishing the mission.
Vision Statement
The vision of Loving God Fellowship is to impact cities and communities through believers ministering at the point of need just as Jesus led, commissioned and empowered His followers to do until He comes.
In 2010, we will be emphasizing the start of LovingGodFellowship.org (LGF) gatherings in cities around the world who will meet once a week for Bible study, fellowship and encouragement, but will spend the rest of the week ministering at the point of need as they follow Jesus. Members will be encouraged to volunteer in community activity instead of just attending a church service and utilizing all of their expendable time volunteering in church activity. This takes ministry beyond the walls of a church and the confines of a church service.
Most churches have set goals in obtaining as many volunteers as they can for their church and its activities, programs and events. Our goal is to facilitate volunteers to minister in the community, at the point of need as Jesus did.
Please pray with us that God will lift up men and women in 2010 that will facilitate these weekly LGF gatherings in their cities and that God will attract to these gatherings those who desire to utilize their life to make a difference in our day. This is vital in fulfilling our vision and accomplishing our mission.
As you pray, God may lead you to be one of these facilitators in your city, on your campus, or in your neighborhood. If He does, please be quick to respond to Him in total obedience. We are here to help you every step of the way!
Becky and I founded LovingGodFellowship.org in December 2005 with nothing more that the call of God on our heart and our personal savings as financing. It was a huge step of faith. Now, many around the world consider Loving God Fellowship their church and we their pastors.
The response to our obedience has been amazing. The number of people around the world being ministered to daily has grown exponentially. In December 2009, LovingGodFellowship.org had 46,000 visitors from 63 different countries. The top ten countries that we had visitors from for the month were the US, Germany, China, Canada, UK, Israel, Russia, France, Brazil and Sweden. These people received free Bible messages, Bible resources, prayer, encouragement and much more ministry through LovingGodFellowship.org. Becky and I receive daily email from those around the world being impacted for Jesus through LovingGodFellowship.org. It’s that encouragement that keeps us moving ahead.
I have not written much on my blog about this worldwide ministry and many that follow are not aware of all that LovingGodFellowship.org is about. I feel led to take the beginning of 2010 to share on my blog a little about LovingGodFellowship.org including what we are about, where we are going and the ministry made available 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year. So for the next couple of weeks or so, daily I will be sharing vision and information concerning LovingGodFellowship.org. God is building the church without walls!
I hope that you will follow along on my blog, comment and ask any questions you may have. Discussion is always welcome.
Copyright 2005-2013 Loving God Fellowship, Inc. Compliance with copyright restrictions requires that no portion of this site (written, audio, or visual) may be reproduced in any form without written permission of Loving God Fellowship, Inc.
"Loving God Fellowship" and the Loving God Fellowship logo are registered trademarks of Loving God Fellowship, Inc.
