Month: August 2020

August 13, 2020 Believers Church Duluth

The Great Outdoors 

For us living on an iceberg…I mean Duluth, the joy of summer is not only a sentiment greatly shared by many, but has been a great opportunity this year. Recently, we’ve had some gorgeous days to enjoy outside in fellowship and outreach. With magazines and flyers in hand, we’ve been at the beaches and parks giving away soda and water.

In terms of fellowship, there is something so simple, yet special, about standing outside the church after service just to spend time with one another. So you can imagine that it was quite the treat to hook up the coffee trailer and have dinner together at the park towards the end of July (hot dogs, chips, and soda anyone?). The parks have been a great place for us to meet. Currently, we have been eagerly moving forward to utilize the rest of our summer. 

Study

Around mid-July, we resumed in-person gatherings and church activities. We’ve been continuing our study in Revelations on Sundays and just finished 2 kings. Next Wednesday we will be starting the book of Jeremiah. 

Gearing up

Street level has had the privilege of taking the time this summer to focus on building up its leaders in weekly studies and preparing for the year ahead. We’ve recently got to move from our virtual meeting to talking around a campfire weekly. Currently, we are still in the planning stages for this coming semester at UWS and UMD; as we are slowly gathering new information on new rules and guidelines set by each university. As for WOTs, it’s headed towards its final stages and will soon be ready for print. We look forward to distributing it to local businesses and campuses.

Prayer

It goes without saying that we’re excited to get back out there. However, after time off at the beginning of July, our greatest concern was to be not just a church with a lot of zeal, but one of the right hearts. Please pray that we continue to steward the growth of a healthy church that is pleasing and useable to God. Also, please continue to pray for Street Level for direction and opportunity. 

Local outreach.
Local outreach.
Church fellowship.
Church fellowship.
Everything goes better with mayo…including staircases.
August 10, 2020 Pastor Justin Thomson - Duluth

It started way back in the early 1900’s, deep down where no one could see it. A complex network of sewer pipe was installed beneath my house with the sole purpose of keeping things concealed. Disgusting things. Things we all try to keep hidden (you know what I mean).

And for the first one hundred and fourteen years, it worked great.

Over time, however, the system grew increasingly weak, and finally collapsed without warning. The sewer lines could no longer withstand the pressure, and the very things it was responsible to keep contained started coming to the surface.

With no idea how bad the situation had become underground, I went downstairs and discovered raw sewage mushrooming out of a hole in the basement floor. If I’m honest, it was a bit startling. Neither plungers nor prayers could stop it, so I did the only thing a clear-thinking Christian could do:

I called a guy on the phone and told him I’d give him money to come and deal with my mess.   

A Dirty-Rotten Job:

When he got there, the plumber started jamming things into that hole and pulling out stuff that I don’t want to talk about. By the end of his 30-minute visit, my houseguest had not only smelled my refuse, but had stood in it, and knelt in it as well. It was on his pants…his hands…

This just wasn’t supposed to happen, and I felt terrible for the guy. Knowing that he’d go home smelling like my toilet made me feel sorry for his whole family. Some things aren’t meant to be shared, and sewage is one of them. You never understand how bad things have gotten until innocent people start getting splattered with your excrement.

…this stuff doesn’t wash off easily

For the next week and a half, plumbers, excavators, and sewer repair professionals converged upon my home. Each one taking their turn at fixing the rancid mess I was accountable for. This was a first for me. I never realized how much work it can take, how expensive it would get, and how many people could be affected by an uncontrolled black-water problem.

A Long-Standing Concern:

The whole charade reminded me of that oft quoted statement Jesus made in Luke 6:45: “What you say flows from whatever’s in your heart”. Our minds are a system of inter-connected channels, buried deep down where nobody can see. Thoughts are pouring into those channels constantly, many of which no one needs to know about. They’re offensive & unwelcome, so you naturally keep them hidden.

The problems come, however, not because we keep them hidden, but because we keep them around. The heart is designed to function more like a sewer system than a septic tank. The waste of unholy thoughts & feelings are meant to be flushed away, not stored. Sin doesn’t wash clean on its own, and in due time, that spiritual sediment starts backing up, looking for another way out.

It usually comes to the surface in a friendly tone of voice, made to look like a humble admission (E.g. “Hey, I just want to confess that I’ve been secretly hating you for the last 114 years”). And you finally feel a whole lot better after unclogging your septic heart, but what about the unsuspecting sap on the receiving end of your “confessional”? No matter how pretty you tried to make it sound, they just got splattered with the sludge that came out. Now they get to go home with the foul reality of what you’ve been thinking about them for so long. And believe me, this stuff doesn’t wash off easily.

A Way Better Technique:

Flushing your mind of the filth that your heart can so easily generate is a quick and easy way to serve your Christian family, and it’s a service we all deserve. Any child of God can “Capture rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ” (II Cor.10:5). Learning to combat sinful feelings, silly offenses, and personal grudges is a skill not beyond your reach. It’s actually your responsibility.

The heart is designed to function like a sewer system

Every toilet is built with a flush-handle. Using it with regularity keeps everybody happy. Likewise with the heart. Once everyone in the household of God commits to doing that, we’ll all be able to enjoy the fresh air of fellowship again.

If that isn’t happening, you might be the one to blame for the stench.

A Deeply Buried Issue:

Well, it was a rough month at the Thomson’s house, but in the end, we all survived the putrid affair: The workers got paid in full, the pipes got buried once more, and my biffy flushes like it should.

And we all hope this never, ever happens again.

Ever.

August 6, 2020 JFB Books and Media

Need a new book to read? Check out these new arrivals…

Not Good If Detached by Corrie Ten Boom

Here Corrie relates some of her experiences with people and the lessons the Lord taught her in her travels around the world. The illustrations of the vine bearing fruit and the railway ticket stamped “not good if detached” aptly portray the necessity of abiding in Him if our lives are to bear fruit and have meaning.

AHA by Kyle Idleman

Have you ever had an “aha” experience—a flash of insight when you finally “get it” and your life changes forever? Drawing on Jesus’ parables, Idleman reveals how three key elements—awakening, honesty, and action—can produce “eureka” moments that lead us to destiny-altering transformations and into the arms of our heavenly Father.

Let Go by Francois Fenelon

Do you struggle through family problems, battle with the tensions of raising children, or find yourself overwhelmed with pressures on the job? Are personal failures and disappointments on the increase as you face each day? What a fountain of life it would be to discover how to let go of those distresses and learn to embrace the joy and peace that God has promised! Fenelon, with amazing insight, speaks firmly, but lovingly, to those whose lives have been an uphill climb and reveals just how to Let Go!

The Believers Bookstore Info:

Since the Central Desk is closed at the present time, the Believers Bookstore is available to the public 9:00 am to 4:30 pm Tuesday through Friday. Also, look for the sign near the front door.

You may come in and browse books but it will not be staffed. You may make purchases during the above hours by taking your selected book to the outdoor coffeehouse trailer at the side of the building, where you may pay for the book only. The coffeehouse does not take orders nor are they knowledgeable of what books are available.

You may email the bookstore with questions and inquiries about books or ebooks that we have available. We will get back to you as soon as possible to assist you with your reading needs. You may also place special orders for books that you don’t see on the shelves if we are able to assist you in that.

Please contact the BOOKSTORE via email with any question or orders please

Contact info: bookstore@jfbelievers.com

August 5, 2020 Believers Church

In a recent article from DesiringGod.org, John Piper speaks to the church about Brokenhearted Boldness in a day when our boldness (without a broken heart) can become brash, harsh, severe, cruel, angry, impatient, and obnoxious — all in the name of Christian courage.

Here’s a link to read Pastor John’s thoughts on the matter in an age of outrage and conflict.

Brokenhearted Boldness – John Piper

August 1, 2020 Believers Church

1980’s

When I was in high school, most cars and home stereos came equipped with a cassette player. The varied level of equipment-quality presented a level of risk. An investment of $10 in the latest album from your favorite band could be reduced to garbage if you put that tape in the wrong player. Back then it was known as “eating tapes”. You didn’t want to put cassettes in players that might eat tapes. It was not uncommon to find a cassette along the road with its entrails stretched into the weeds of the ditch. Everyone knew what happened to that tape when they saw it.

1990’s

Fast forward to the mid-’90s and attending church at JFB in Menomonie. Back then it was called Calvary Chapel. In those days there was a designated room with racks all around the walls containing sermon tape sets to teach you through whole books of the Bible. Periodically there would be at least one or more people in the church who would check out book after book after book. That person was “eating tapes” like they were going out of style. We would eat Chuck Tapes and Courson Tapes and Damien Tapes. It was not uncommon to shoot the breeze with others who were eating their way through a book of the Bible on tape. They would discuss the things they were learning… along with the funny things the pastors would say… like:

“Immanuel Velikovsky, in his book Worlds in Upheaval, said…”
“…people say Christianity is just a crutch… I don’t need a crutch! I need an ambulance! I need the Mayo Clinic!”
“…and I took him by the lapels and said, ‘If you ever look at my daughter again, I will hunt you down to the ends of the earth and kill you with my bare hands!'”
“…WHO! IS! YESHUA!?”
“O-ho-ho-ho-ho… The Pharisees were unfair, you see… and the Sadducees were sad, you see…”

2000’s

In the age of “information at your fingertips,” we seemed to have turned aside from the ability to feed ourselves. It’s very strange. I think about the work a man like Charles Spurgeon had to put into personal bible study. I am sure he had his own little library of commentaries and resources but he also had to physically get up and stroll down to the local university or library to continue his research. Funny enough, today “there’s an app for that”. Yet with thousands of resources (more than Spurgeon had) at our disposal via computers and phones, we do less research, less study… Is anyone hungry?

Now Serving 24/7

If you make your way to the SERMONS link in the menu above, you will find a link in the drop-down menu called SERMON ARCHIVES. When you click there, you will be taken to a page that offers 2 blue buttons. One takes you to JFBelievers teaching archives and the other takes you to sermons by other teachers. In this link, you will find we have reorganized the files inside to wrangle together all of the verse-by-verse teachings in one place, sorted by the name of the teacher.

This folder requires a username and password to enter. If you want access, just send us an email: office@jfbelievers.com and we will give you access.

It’s time to eat!