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Dry Bones….

Dry Bones…

The hand of the Lord was on me and He brought me by His Spirit and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. He led me all around them. There were a great many of them on the surface of the valley., and they were very dry. Then He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” I replied, “Lord only You know.” He said to me, “Prophesy concerning these bones and say to them: Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! This is what the Lord God says to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you will live. I will put tendons on you, make flesh grow on you, and cover you with skin. I will put breath in you so that you come to life. Then you will know that I an the Lord.” So I prophesied as I had been commanded. While I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone.As I looked, tendons appeared on them, flesh grew, and skin covered them, but there was on breath in them. He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man. Say to it: This is what the Lord God says: breath, come from the four winds and breathe into these slain so that they may live.!” So I prophesied as He commanded me;the breath entered them, and they came to life and stood on their feet, a vast army.
Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Look how they say: Our bones are dried up, and our hope has perished; we are cut off. Therefore, prophesy and say to them: This that is what the Lord God says: I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them, My people, and lead you into the land of Israel. You will know that I am the Lord, My people, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. I will put My Spirit in you, and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I am the Lord. I have spoken, and I will do it.”Ezekiel 37:1-14
Wow this depicts utter and complete desolation. The kingdom established by King David has been totally destroyed. All the bones represent a nation scattered by its conquerors, and all the hope of the people destroyed. The question that God asked Ezekiel about Israel was both personal and national. It’s a question for the fate of our nation or any other nation that has lost its moral anchor. It is also a personal question as well. Every christian must ask am I relevant in the ministry that I serve in? Do I have an understanding of culture, and an ability to relate to this world? Can these bones live? Can I be effective in witnessing to the world by my life and my testimony? Can revival come? Has your faith grown cold and meaningless? Are you just going to church because its what you are to do? Can the dying embers of a wounded faith be stirred to flame again? How do you answer the voice that questioned Ezekiel? How do you respond to the hard questions? God can bring revival in the valley of bones and new life back into each and everyone of us and our churches. Our dried-up bones that are just sitting in our churches can live again! What is Gods response to us, he is calling us to wake up to the realities of the Twenty-first century. He is calling leaders and people that are able to take advantage of the opportunities before us and use them for the Glory of God. “ and if My people who are called by My name humble themselves, pray and seek My face, and turn from their evil ways then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sins, and heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14

We cannot choose how many years we will live, but we can choose how much life those years will have.

We cannot control the beauty of our face, but we can control the expression on it.

We cannot control life’s difficult moments, but we can choose to make life less difficult.

We cannot control the negative atmosphere of the world but we can control the atmosphere of our mind.

Too often, we choose to control things we cannot.

Too seldom, we choose to control what we can….our attitude.

God choose what we go through. We choose how we go through it.

My responsibility as a leader must always be viewed in light of many, not just myself.

The first thing a leader must declare is not authority because of rights, but authority because of relationships.

People do not care how much you know until they know how much you care.

Success is learning from failure.

Failure is the opportunity to begin again more intelligently.

Failure only becomes failure when we do not learn from it.

People want to join in a group or purpose or cause that will have lasting impact.

People need to see that what they are doing is not wasted effort.

Make people your priority.

People are our greatest resources; therefore, take time to know and care about them.

Never appear preoccupied with self or in a hurry.

Stop talking and develop the art of really listening.

Gods gift to me is my potential. My gift back to Him is what I do with that potential.

The average person could achieve eight additional hours of personal growth and work in each week by using drive time wisely.

Necessary items for your car. phone, pen, paper, books to read, ipod ,CD’s of things to listen to that help you grow.

Hours can be saved by making the best use of minutes.

Here is something to think about.

” Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.” Abraham Lincoln

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Reflections From a Pastor

I read this from one of my ministry friends, I can not say it any better than he did. Thank you Bro. Tony

Last week I watched a documentary about my city. It included video footage from the early 1930s. Several clips showed children at local elementary schools lining up for school dismissal. These boys and girls had bright eyes and faces full of hope. Many of them looked familiar and I almost expected to see kids from my church mixed into the crowd. Then it struck me.

Those sweet faces in the video are gone – their long lives have been spent. All that they thought or did is now past. This bothered me and I desperately wanted to hear their stories. What were their names? Did they live good lives? What joys and sorrows did they know? Did they find the love of Jesus? But that video is all I will ever know about them. These were only images snatched from time.

In the same way, my life will pass away. The children of tomorrow will know nothing about me. If the Lord gives me grandchildren, I cannot expect that their children will know much about me. At most, they will only see an old photograph and be told that I was a pastor. The shortness of life is a wall that we cannot climb over. It divides us from all who will come after us. Because of our fallen world, we live on islands in time.

Should we give up and let despair win out? Certainly not – by God’s mercy there is much we can do in the here-and-now to have an impact on tomorrow. I came up with two ways we are connected with tomorrow’s children.

1. We are connected through the children of today. The children we teach will go places that we can never go. They will serve God & and; fellow-man in ways that we can only imagine. They will live on after us, and teach the children we will never know. We minister to children for their sake, and for the sake of the children to come. This is how God sees our ministry. Psalm 78 talks about teaching the next generation so that their children will arise and tell their children. In this way we pass on our hope in God. When we minister to children now, we are sending missionaries to the children of the future.

2. We are connected through our prayers. We cannot cross over time to help tomorrow’s children, but our prayers are not bound by time. Our God lives forever and we must seek his help. He can raise up teachers after we are gone. He can send the good news into their lives. But we can be a part of that work, because God is pleased to do all this according to our prayers. In a very real sense, God can honor our requests and bring salvation to these children not yet born. Even when our short lives are spent, our prayers will not be exhausted. Even when we are long forgotten, God will remember and show his glory according to those prayers.

What attitude should we have about this work? Think about the shortness of life, the certainty of your own death, and the hope of the Gospel. Then resolve to make a difference. Pray and teach in such a way that tomorrow’s children will put their hope in God.

Your Servant In Christ,Tony Kummer