Taconet Family Journal

Monday, September 22, 2014

No Greater Joy Shindig Messages

Number One:

"I'll Follow Jesus!"

-Nathan Pearl

Luke chapter 5 tells us the story of the man who was sick of the palsy that came to Jesus and was healed. This man immediately "rose up before them , and took up that whereon he lay, and departed to his own house, glorifying God. And they were all amazed, and they glorified God, and were filled with fear, saying, We have seen strange things today."
We also read a story in this same chapter of a man named Levi who was sitting at his money-making job when Jesus passed by and simply said, "Follow me." Of Levi we read, "And he left all, rose up, and followed him." Levi then made a great feast and invited a great company of sinners that Jesus might eat with them and share Himself with them just as Levi had experienced.

The very first mark of a man that truly follows Jesus is that he wants to tell you about Jesus. (This would apply for a woman that truly followed Jesus, too :)

When you follow Jesus you don't get to take Him to your program. We don't get to pick the field that God sends us too.

The first step to following Jesus is this; "Jesus, I love you."

The great thing about following Jesus is that we have a destination, a goal that needs to be reached. And here is what it looks like. Ephesians 4:32-5:1, "And be ye kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. And be ye followers of God as dear children."

Revelation 19:13-16, "And He was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called the Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon whipe horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God, And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS." This is the One Who we are following! the King of Kings, the Creator of the Universe, the Word of God, the One Who has saved us by His precious blood! Why should we not want to follow Him?

Some other scripture passages to look at for further study; Matt. 4:18, Luke 14:26, Matt. 19:20. John 21.

Nathan-Pearl---How-to-Study-Your-Bible,-Part-2-1

Number Two:

"Active Forgiveness"

-Joshua Steele

Ephesians 4:31, 32, "Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and
clamor, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you."

In Matt. 18 when Peter was asking Christ how many times he should forgive his brother, "seventy times seven?" he was not seeking to forgive, he was looking for the soonest possible time to condemn that brother and have a reason to justify his own hurt.
Passive forgiveness is NOT forgiveness!
Heb. 12:15, Bitterness usually starts in the heart of just one person, but then spreads until it effects the entire group.
James 3:14-16, The devil has many ways to cause destruction in a group of believers or in a ministry and bitterness is a big one.
Psalm 15:2, "speaketh the truth in his heart." We may try to excuse our anger or bitterness, or any other kind of sin, but what we really need to do is to be honest with our own hearts and admit our sin for what it really is.
Romans 5:6-8, Remember what God forgave us of and what it cost Him to do so. With this perspective what we have to forgive others of will seem very small indeed.

Four Steps to Active Forgiveness

- It's not about the steps, it is about a willingness to obey the Word of God and do what is right.

1. A commitment to follow God's Word no matter what. Obey!

-Pr. 16:3, You're going to win when you commit your works to the Lord.

2. Remember the danger and destruction of having bitterness in your heart, what starts as a

secret in your heart will spring up to hurt many. (Heb. 12:15)

3. Focus not on how much you have suffered but on how much you have been forgiven by

God and how much He suffered in order to forgive us. (Romans 5:8)

1 4. Seek ways to actively bless that person who has hurt you. (Matt. 5: 43,44)

-Active forgiveness is doing good to those that hate you because it is right and it is what God

did for you.

- The expectation is that we should do more for those who have wronged us than what a lost

person does for that person. ( Matt. 5:46)

-How can we practice active forgiveness in our own life?

1. Make a list of all those who have hurt you and against who you hold bitterness.

2. Seek how you can actively bless each of the people on your list. (i.e. sincere

compliments, thoughtful gestures, a gift, going out of your way to speak to them or

help them with something.)

steele-2014

Saturday, September 20, 2014

No Greater Joy

Smoky Mountains Shindig
September 10-14, 2014

This past week our family had the privilege to attend No Greater Joy's annual Family Conference. We had an incredible time -along with around 2,200 other people- attending the incredible sessions, fellow-shipping with other families who also loved the Lord and were seeking to serve Him, eating delicious food, playing volleyball and other organized activities, meeting other families and being inspired and challenged to press forward serving God in whatever ways He has called us to do so!

It will take several posts to capture the week's events and even then I know I will not do it justice! We praise the Lord for the wonderful time He gave us together as a family and for the great work He is doing in and through the ministry of No Greater Joy!

North Carolina, Here we come!

Beautiful scenery as we drove....

The shindig was held at the

Ridgecrest Conference Center in Asheville, North Carolina.

The weather was beautiful!

We stayed in the "Royal Gorge."

The campus was large enough to accommodate

3,000 people so we spent a lot of time......walking!

Practice sessions and impromptu jams

were happening everywhere! We enjoyed

pausing to listen as time permitted :)

The Family!

Call us silly- but several of us enjoyed

catching rides on this nifty little thing!

The main auditorium.....

......now packed with some 2,200 other people!

Amazing Speakers:

Nathan Pearl-

(M.C. and Keynote Speaker)

"Look! It's Mike Pearl!!"

Joshua Steele

Missionary to the Ukraine

Special Music:

The Rodriguez family

on their way to the mission field of Mexico

The Meggs family

of Roanoke, Virginia

Mike Pearl playing his "saw"

(yes..this is a hand saw and fiddle bow)

The Keen children playing their violins

and reciting scripture passages

The "soggy britches boys"

of Cane Creek, Tennessee

The children's choir practiced every day

to sing for everyone on Sunday!

And Liberty was brave enough to join them!

(Lower left corner :)

And a World-Championship Knife-Throwing and Whip-Cracking Act! :

Mike Pearl has won several awards and gold cups in

international knife-throwing contests. He also won the

gold cup for tomahawk-throwing in 2012!

With a promise of more posts to follow........

Monday, April 7, 2014

For several weeks now our guys have been working on a challenging and exciting project! With a burden to challenge and help fathers and sons in their super-important relationship with each other they have put together and just recently launched a ministry to do just that! To see more about this visit their website at www.fathersonjourney.com.