steve penny » Jesus

Magpies in submission

Steve Penny — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 05:32:53 +0000

I walked to Mooloolaba again this morning – not just for a nice coffee on the beach – but also today to reinforce my deliverance from the Magpie attack yesterday.
I reached the spot where the enemy lay in wait and walked carefully past looking to the skies for any signs of the Red Baron in black and white. To my amazement the magpie was nowhere to be seen and I was about to do a victory dance when I spotted the offending feathered missile standing on the ground under a tree.
With a great show of christian triumph I waved at the cowering feather duster and as I did it looked as though the defeated foe lowered his head and shuffled off – a broken specimen – no longer ranked among the feared – but now relegated to spend the rest of his days scratching in the dust – like a lice ridden sparrow.
The moral of the story – Jesus has not only given us the victory in some situations – but he has given us dominion over all the works of the enemy. It is up to us to enforce the finished work of Christ in all areas of life.

Absolute surrender

Steve Penny — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 21:21:10 +0000

The Christian life has always been a mystery to the unconverted. Passionate and seemingly blind allegiance to the church and it’s leaders. Commitment way beyond what is normal in our self focussed world. And perhaps worst of all a willingness to part with our money for the sake of a cause not felt by all.
Why is it that the Christian faith elicits such responses from seemingly normal people.
To me it all comes down to – absolute surrender. I grew up singing the song – all to Jesus I surrender, all to Him I freely give. This heart felt sentiment is still the crux of the Christian life.
Absolute surrender means the following;
1. Giving up our personal rights to self promotion and fulfillment.
Stop fighting for all those things you think you deserve. Self promotion looks ugly on anybody.
2. Submitting ourselves under the authorities established in Christ’s church.
God puts us under imperfect leaders for a reason. Learn to serve an imperfect leader and God will perfect His will in you.
3. Stewarding our resources so that His kingdom comes and His will is done.
Use what you have to build His house and He will establish yours. The love of money is often as strong in the church as in the world.
4. Choosing to go into all – our worlds – with the good news of salvation for all.
We must keep extending the borders of our own world to reach into the world of others. Don’t just try to bring people into your world – enter into theirs.
5. Exercising continual forgiveness toward all mankind so that they see Christ’s love in us.
Forgiveness is the height of wisdom – when exercised it brings all kinds of blessing.
Absolute surrender is still the way of the Kingdom of God.

Keeping the faith

Steve Penny — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 21:38:08 +0000

There are many divergent views on how the Christian faith should be expressed. Some say we are primarily called to be worshippers of God. Others say we are to be a body unified in love as a witness to the world. Still others say that we are to be salt in a broken world bringing hope and help to the needy. Obviously all such views are correct and can be seen in differing ways in the various expressions of the Christian church. However there still exists a great need to fulfill the Great Commission of Jesus to His emerging church. His clear command – to go into all the world and preach the good news to every person – is still the over-riding cause of the Christian church.
No-one is exempt from this command. We must all assess our lives in the light of this over-riding command. To do so requires us to look at our lives in three areas.
VISION – Does our vision for life have as it’s central core, a commitment to “go into our world”.
Are we living to bring things into our world – or are we living to send things from our world into “all the world.” How have we gone into our world to fulfill the command, and expand the cause of Christ.
VEHICLE – What is the vehicle you use to carry the gospel into all the world.
We all have different vehicles, and we must respect the various vehicles used by others.
Finding our vehicle of faith is probably the most liberating thing you can do in life.
VOICE – We must also learn and practice giving a reason for the hope that is within us.
Too many people say they are unable to share their faith, but wax eloquent on every other subject under the sun. I am developing a testimony bank of videos for IPad so people can share these with their friends. IPad evangelism will be the greatest tool for the church since the print media was invented. You have a voice so get with it and share your faith with others in your world.
The most exiting revolution in church history is now happening and it is preparing the church to fulfill the great command of Jesus – to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.

Scrap Size Faith – Audio

Steve Penny — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 23:12:39 +0000

The miracle of the loaves and fishes was not over when the thousands were fed.

The real miracle for the Apostles started when Jesus told them to gather all the unused portions of food from the crowd. As they picked up the scraps – they were restored to whole loaves – filling their baskets to overflowing.

Sometimes the miracle is in the scraps you have remaining.

SCRAP SIZE FAITH will help you to believe for amazing miracles in all areas of your life.

Keep believing – the miracles not complete just yet.

Staring death in the face

Steve Penny — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 05:33:35 +0000

Today I visited one of my best mates who is dying of cancer.
We grew up together and were as close as brothers – sharing many of the crazy adventures afforded us as young men.
We both grew up in church and loved God and essentially kept each other going for God.
It is no surprise then that both of us ended up in the ministry serving God to the best of our ability.
So today when I stood by his bedside watching him lie there in a semi coma, I talked to him about heaven and the reward waiting for him just a few earthly hours from now.
Having been through this with the death of my own son Andrew, I have come to realize how non-scary death really is for a Christian. It is simply the portal into another dimension called eternal life. I told my friend today the names of all my loved ones that I wanted him to see when he got to heaven.
I told him that there will be a guard of honour for him leading to an amazing rewards ceremony.
I told him that there are streets of pure gold and an ocean with perfect waves and a moto cross track with the ultimate jumps etc.
Hey death where is your sting?
Every time a Christian dies and goes to heaven it is like the devil is being defeated all over again.
Rejoice because your name is written in heaven.
Out hope is built on nothing less than Jesus and His righteousness.

Newport Church USA Ministry Report

Steve Penny — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 04:42:33 +0000

Torrential rain threatened to spoil my arrival into LA and then down to the Southern Beaches area of Newport Beach. However the skies cleared and the scenery lived up to the hype. What a gorgeous part of the USA. The best was yet to come. On Saturday morning we had a Kingdom Builders launch with Jonathon & Di Wilson for their Newport Church. It was an awesome morning with incredible faith and vision being shared together.

Then came the Sunday meetings. On Sunday morning this growing church meets in the Lido Theatre and it was packed. Great response to the word with dozens of people saying Yes! to Jesus. Then they pack it all up and take everything across town to a high school theatre and do it twice more at night.

The night services really pump and are full of young people switched on to Jesus. They were great to preach to and many more received Christ into their lives during our night rallies.

I was very impressed with the enthusiasm and level of commitment felt amongst all those I connected with. This is a happening church and will continue to make news for all the right reasons. I’m looking forward to a return visit both to the Newport Beach area and to the exciting Newport Church.

Sell the Harley

Steve Penny — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 19:40:54 +0000

Sometimes in life there are seasons when change is neccesary.
I was out with friends over the weekend and one of them mentioned he was selling his Harley motorbike. The other friend was amazed asking incredulously why he would do such a crazy thing.
His response was simple. Things have changed and I want the money to do other things.
When change happens – and it should be often, here are some simple keys.
1.Only change direction to step into new seasons – but always keep your destination in mind.
2. Sell your bike or other secondary items – but never sell the farm.
3. Prune and cut back – but never weaken the roots that keep you planted.
4. Keep you family and friends close and help them get through the check points of change.
5. Make change a new beginning – not a bad ending.
6. Don’t sorrow over the things you sell or lose – find joy in looking for new things.
7. Jesus is the God of continual new beginnings – follow Him.

Tears on Christmas Day

Steve Penny — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 07:51:41 +0000

I realized again today that I usually shed a few tears every Christmas day.
I woke up early as usual and started to thank God for sending Jesus to rescue me from the curse of sin. I then began thanking Him for all the blessings we have received throughout the year.
God has been so good to us and so I shed a few tears while thanking Him for all his blessings.
A little while later a few tears began to flow while we were opening our Christmas presents as a family. It always becomes apparent that our eldest son Andrew is not with us and so a few quiet tears flow amidst the joy of giving and receiving our gifts.
The other time during the day when a few tears get through my guard is when everyone has gone or out doing something and I have time alone to look back over the year now gone and consider some of the mistakes I have made and opportunities I have missed.
I always do a stocktake at Xmas as the new year just a few days away causes me to focus on things ahead. And so as I look back over my year – as I am doing right now – I find a few tears come to the surface over silly things said and done. But that is why I like Xmas. Because God understands how I feel and is quick to forgive and make whole. Sometimes in all the fuss and frenzy of Xmas a few tears can help put it all into perspective and help us turn again to the loving arms of the one who sent His only Son to invade our world with unconditional love.

Believing in People

Steve Penny — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 21:05:31 +0000

One of the greatest attributes of a true friend is the fact that they believe in you through thick and thin.
In fact the art of great leadership is to believe in the people God puts into your life.
People in your life fall into three groups.
1. They hero – you.
These people are wonderful. They believe you never make a mistake and everything that comes out of your mouth is God breathed. They do so much to help you have great vision and confidence in the call of God on your life. We need to believe in hero people as God given.
Sadly the hero people can sometimes be attracted to the next hero who comes on the scene and disappear as quickly as they came.
2. They Help – you
These people are the salt of the earth. They know you are not perfect but they choose to serve with you and help you fulfill the call of God upon you life.
Believe in these people with all their flaws and failings as they are the army who will work with you to achieve the impossible.
It is this group of ordinary people whom you must believe in and help to rise up into all God has for them.
3. They Humble – you.
These are the people whom God gives to you to keep your eyes on the Lord.
They often see your blindspots and let you know they still believe in you.
These people often put demands on you and drain you, and bring you down to earth, but you still have to believe in them.
Believing in people is essential no matter what their role in your world.
A. Believe for their best when they are at their worst.
While we were yet sinners God believed in us and sent Jesus to die for us.
B. Believe in their motives despite their actions.
Paul the great Apostle said – the things I want to do, I don’t, and the things I don’t want to do, I end up doing.
I thank God continually for friends who believe in me even when I do things I later regret.
C. Believe in their dreams while helping them sort out their dust.
Most of us have dreams that are still some way off.
I am the product of people who saw my dreams and helped me believe in them while rearranging the dust of circumstances gone wrong.
Dreams drag people through the dust of present challenges. Find out peoples dreams and believe in them.
Believing in people simply gives them hope – and hope is everything in life.

BREAKFAST AT MOOLOOLABA

Steve Penny — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 20:43:27 +0000

Mooloolaba is a beautiful beach strip of cafes and restaurants on the Sunshine Coast of Queensland Australia.

It also happens to be where God has placed us to build a great church called “The Kings House.”

I am forever grateful to God for allowing me to be planted in such a glorious part of the world.

And perhaps my greatest joy in life is to have brekky at Mooloolaba with the many friends and associates who call Kings their spiritual home.

I am about to head off for another breakfast at Mooloolaba, and realised how important this practise is to my weekly schedule.

Today I will spend time with one of my team outside of the office sharing about life etc . rather than discussing the work of the church.

I love it. I get to see how my team are growing as individuals in their marriages and in the ministry and in life itself.

I also love the fact that Jesus spent a great part of His ministry meeting with people over a meal.

There is something disarming about eating together. People relax more with a mouthful of food or a cup of coffee.

I propose that more of our time should be spent meeting up with people over a meal or a cup of coffee.

We are also trying to destructure our KNECT cell groups to become even more relational and life focussed.

We call it, “Jesus in the real world,” and I know for me it works far more effectively than sitting in church meetings all the time.

I suggest that you try to meet with people in “one on ones,” and actually talk about your lives etc. rather than just meeting in groups trying to complete a study.

Maybe they both should work together – the group applying God’s word, and then as individuals helping each other grow through the challenges of life we all face.

I personally love the “one on one” stuff that happens over a nice breakfast at Mooloolaba.

Cheers SJP