Samuel Deuth's Blog, page 4
October 11, 2017
How to break free from the spirit of heaviness!
Often times in life we can find ourselves under what feels like a heavy-weight from— loss, failure, sin, tragedy, missed dreams, life pressures, and more. First, I want to encourage you that you’re not alone in feeling heavy depression like symptoms when you face difficulty, but you don’t have to be overcome by it.
Sometimes that overwhelmed feeling can come because of difficult times in life, but it can also come anytime you attempt to grow and advance in life.
The good news is that you don’t have to let it take you out, this spirit of heaviness can be lifted through a refreshing time of worship. Worry and fear come when our eyes get off Jesus, but worship puts Jesus in his rightful place in our lives again and allows Him to recapture our heart; in that close and refreshing position, you can resist that heaviness and rise above with renewed strength!
“To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.””
Isaiah 61:3 NKJV
October 4, 2017
The Power Of Serving | Danah’s Story | Following Jesus Book
Let me tell you a story!! After writing the Following Jesus book, our heart was to translate it to as many languages as we could, beginning with Spanish. I asked Pastor Jurgen, if he had any contacts, he said, “contact with our south campus pastors, Drew & Emma Davies… they said, “who know just the right person” and they directed me to this incredible woman, Danah, a volunteer at our C3 San Diego South Campus.
Danah’s degree and occupation exactly made her an expert to translate the book. As we talked, I found out Her mom had just come to Christ and Danah was already thinking about translating it to Spanish for her, so together we set out to translate this for “mom”.
Danah, fully offered her professional skills free of charge for this work, feeling it was more of a calling. It was a flawless translation and we put it to work right away in a few Spanish speaking churches around the USA.
Little did we know that a short while later, my friends Dominic Russo & Jedidiah Thurner at MissionsMe would need a Spanish discipleship resource to serve Nicaragua. Together with #1nation1day and so many who donated, we distributed over 100,000 Spanish Following Jesus books to disciple those who responded to Christ during the 1 Nation 1 Day event this year in Nicaragua!!! Praise Jesus for the privilege to serve in that way!!
(here is the highlight video from the event that the books were used at)
http://samueldeuth.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/img_1844.mp4
Amazing the impact you can have when you make your gift available to be used by God!!
Danah!! You’re a legend and your work is impacting the entire nation of Nicaragua and that’s just the start!!! Thank you!!!
August 31, 2017
Is God able to use your life?
If you’re a follower of Jesus, chances are high that you have a desire for God to use your life to make an eternal impact. But the truth is that many aren’t being used by God to do much of anything, why is that? Let’s consider the story of Mary the mother of Jesus, for a moment.
28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” 29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” 34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” 35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. 36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. 37 For no word from God will ever fail.” 38 “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her. – Luke 1:28-38 9 (NIV)
This is Mary’s moment! The time when God is wanting to reach down and bring Jesus to world, to introduce the Messiah into the world, and he comes to a young woman named Mary. Naturally she has some questions about the feasibility of this baby since she’s not married, but ultimately she sets the example for all of us who want to make an impact and difference in our lifetime.
Mary chooses to say yes and create space in her life to be used by God to bring Jesus to the world! And that truly, our availability is the key to whether or not we can be a part of the great story of the kingdom of God. Are we making ourselves available to be used by God to bring Jesus to our world?
What could God do if we created space for Him in our lives?
Sometimes this availability will call us to sacrifice a lot, and sometimes it’s minor inconveniences, but if we’ve received the grace of Jesus, than God is tapping us on the shoulder and calling us to be available to bring that grace to others.
14 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15 And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” – Romans 10:14-15 (NIV)
The funny part about this verse is that we don’t usually put the words “feet” and “beautiful” in the same sentence!! For real, some people got some funk-nasty feet! haha! But, you’ll notice the statement of beauty isn’t about the feet, but about the availability of the feet.
The beauty is in the availability.
What a bummer it is when we have the beauty but not the availability. We’re called to make ourselves available to bring good news to others. We can’t settle for just having good news, but we need to make our lives available to be used by God to bring that good news to hurting world around us.
Imagine if you had a child that was thirsty for a drink of water, and when you went to the cupboard to grab a glass, none of the classes would let you use them. Each one having their own excuse as to why they’re unavailable. You’d be getting frustrated, knowing that your child is thirsty and all you need is an available cup to transport the refreshing water to your child. Imagine a cup saying it’s too busy, or maybe it feels too dirty, or maybe feels like it’s got a crack and has disqualified itself from being useable.
It’s crazy to think of the cups in your cupboard talking back at you, but that’s really how we often are with God. He has so many children that need to hear the good news, children that need the refreshing water of the grace of Jesus, but many of us are unavailable or unaware of the need.
There are many practical ways we can be available to be used by God, like being an example of the love of Christ, forgive when people don’t deserve, pray for co-workers who are sick, offer biblical council to the struggle a friend is walking through, inviting people to join you at church or small group, telling your story/testimony about how Jesus has impacted your life, and many more. But, my primary goal for this post is to stir our hearts to be like Mary and commit that when Jesus needs to use your life you’ll simply respond,“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.”
July 8, 2017
Constant Use
We live in an era right now where good and evil don’t always seems to be clear or obvious; how do we decide what’s right and wrong with so many different opinions flying around out there and many of those voices claiming to be the right way?
The writer of Hebrews provides some guidance for us:
“…by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.”
Hebrews 5:11-14 NIV
First off, yes, the writer is really givin’ it to these Christians for being immature in their faith, but what I want to focus on is the final verse. He’s unpacking a formula to cure confusion.
He says that we’ll be able to clarity and be able to distinguish good from evil by constant use or constant immersion and application of the truth of God’s word. In the banking world one of best ways to learn to know the difference between real money and fake counterfeit money is by “constant use” of the real thing.
So, my encouragement and challenge to you today is increase your use and application of God’s word. The biggest thing that helped me years back was to download the Youversion Bible app and start the annual reading plan called, “Life Journal Reading Plan”. This gives me a daily target of chapters to read and the app can remind me to do my reading. I can even have the Bible app read those chapters to me!
In a culture of confusion the path to clarity is via the constant engagement and application of God’s word in your life. And here is a quick thought for you as you begin reading the Bible, don’t go to it out of obligation or as if you’re reading a history book, but every time you read the Bible think to yourself, “I’m going to meet with Jesus.”
May 2, 2017
Don’t forget to remember.
Let’s talk about Remembering and forgetting. You ever notice how we often seem to hold onto the things we really should forget and forget the things that we should remember?
Well, the truth is our ability to forget and move onto what’s next is a God thing, but God gives us clues as to what kinds of things we really need to remember and never forget. Notice in Psalms how key it is to remember the kindnesses of God:
“When our ancestors were in Egypt, they gave no thought to your miracles; they did not remember your many kindnesses, and they rebelled by the sea, the Red Sea.” -Psalm 106:7 NIV
Interesting that when we forget and don’t give time and attention to remind ourselves of what God has done it’s easy to forget and when we forget we begin to stray down a destructive path. And our enemy the devil is good at trying to help us forget. Trying to get our attention of the goodness of God and get us to focus on the negative. Like he did in the garden with Adam and Eve. God had given Adam and Eve everything on Earth for their enjoyment but the devil sabotaged them by getting them to believe that God was “holding out” on them because he had withheld the one tree that was in the garden.
This reality that we often forget what we need to remember is why Jesus set in motion the consistent habit of taking communion and remembering what Jesus did on the cross for us.
Let’s all take some time today to remember what Jesus has done for us, to remember the kindnesses of God and how’s taken care and provided for us all along the way. It’s amazing how much peace, joy, and strength will stir in you as you focus your attention on Jesus and all his many kindnesses!
January 2, 2017
ON MISSION
Jesus calls all of his disciples to live beyond personal convenience to fulfill the great commission. It’s rightly labeled great because it’s no small task, Jesus calls us to reach and disciple the entire population of the planet. Pause for a moment and think about the enormity of that call, but also consider the reality that with Him, it’s possible. Let’s take a look at how Jesus first brings the great commission to his disciples:
“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” — Matthew 28:19-20
The heart of the father is that all would be saved and brought close. To fulfill this global mission, it will require us, his Church, to stay mission conscious, but there is a constant assault from the enemy to pull us off this mission. The relentless message of culture tells us we must discover our purpose, our mission, our strengths, our passions, our lane, and the way we’re directed to find this purpose is by looking inward and doing what makes me truly happy. But even with all of the strengths surveys, courses, achieving success, self-discovery trips, and checking off bucket-list items, many still come up short of living a fulfilling life. Why? Because we try to grasp for meaning within ourselves, but I’ve found purpose has been revealed as I stay on mission more than through internal contemplation.
“If you want to discover your purpose—stay on mission.”
Jesus said in Matthew 10:39, “Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.” The enemy will always try to offer you an alternative path to fulfillment, but it never satisfies. The only way to find yourself is to lose yourself in Christ—You’ll discover your personal mission within the context of the great commission. As a follower of Jesus the great commission must occupy my attention.
[image error]Our mission can be summarized with two key words, Evangelism and Discipleship. Honestly, these are two of the scariest words to most Christians. Which is why many believers unintentionally wander off mission. I don’t think we wander because we’re heartless towards lost people but because most Christians have never been effectively discipled themselves. However, the truth is that it’s not as complicated as you might think and you don’t need a bible college degree to do your part.
Evangelism = Tell Your Story
Discipleship = Commit to Their Story
Tell Your Story
Evangelism is simply sharing the story of how Jesus has changed your life; this was the direction Jesus often gave people who encountered his ministry on earth. After an encounter with Jesus the individual in the Bible would go back to their community with no additional education or special training, they would just passionately tell their story.
Commit To Their Story
Discipleship is about committing yourself beyond personal convenience to help someone walk out their Jesus-story. We cannot expect a new believer to just figure it out on their own without someone showing them how to take those first steps. We wouldn’t expect a child to know how to ride a bike the first time you put them on it, there is a process of training before you can take the training wheels off and a new Christian needs that same initial training so they can thrive in this new life without a massive wipeout.
Living On Mission doesn’t mean that everyone has to quit their jobs and go work for a church as a pastor, but it does mean that in everyday life you Include your story and create space for theirs. It’s not about an unwelcome insertion of your testimony during every lunch break, or theological arguments on social media, but it is about not withholding the Jesus factor of your life. The hope you and I have found in Jesus, is the very thing they’re missing; we carry the answer to the pain of the world. Your family, school, workplace, and community needs to hear your story. Ask the Holy Spirit to guide you and empower you to confidently introduce Jesus to the people in your world.
“The great commission isn’t difficult, but it does require personal inconvenience.”
Finally, staying On Mission means creating space to show people how to follow Jesus. Leading someone to Jesus personally or bringing them to a church and seeing them respond to an altar call isn’t the finish line, it’s the beginning of the most important decision of their life. In my new book, Following Jesus, I layout the seven essentials to following Jesus for a new believer and I provide a practical section to help Christians disciple a new believer, but it really comes down to opening up our lives and inviting people to walk with us. As we passionately follow Jesus ourselves, let’s take on the mantra of the Apostle Paul:
“Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.” —1 Corinthians 11:1
Because of the importance of this mission, I just released my new book, Following Jesus, it focuses on the seven essentials to developing a relationship with Jesus. This book will stir and strengthen your personal passion to follow Jesus and will equip you to be more effective at discipling your friends and others in your world. You can order a copy at FollowingJesusbook.com.
I’m praying for you as you follow Jesus and commit your life to fulfilling the mission that Jesus gave us!
Order A Copy For You Or Bulk order for Your church
Interview with Chris Durso on my new book and a few tips on Following Jesus.
December 22, 2016
2016 Charity Spotlight
As we close out the year, many of us are stirred to dig deep and give towards organizations that are making a difference. First off, I encourage all charitable giving to be beyond the 10% tithe that goes to the local work of ministry through your church. But, beyond your local church, here are a few of my favorite charitable organizations to give and invest into this season.
[image error]THE BIBLE APP [GIVE NOW]
I begin with the Bible app. This by far is the most important charity to donate to on the planet today outside of the church because it is supplying the word of God for free in a way that is so needed, and never seen before. Where ever the word of God goes, light, growth, health, and much more will follow. If you want to see the world improve, help the word of God get to more people. [GIVE NOW]
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WORLD VISION [GIVE NOW]
I am constantly thankful for and impressed by the commitment that World Vision has to not only meet an immediate need, but the help a community answer the larger and more long-term sustainability needs of a community. World Vision is also a child-first type of charity that is focused on meeting the needs of children around the world. They also do a lot with world disaster relief. [GIVE NOW]
[image error]SAVE THE STORKS [GIVE NOW]
I’m passionate about ending the legalization of abortion. Abortion is the greatest massacre of people in history. It’s also a very controversial topic that is met with massive amounts of resistance. One of the great organizations that are serving this epidemic is Save The Storks. They provide free ultrasounds to woman considering abortion, and then help them walk out the choice to keep their babies. 4 out of 5 woman who step into a Save The Stork bus choose to keep their child. And many are led to Jesus. [GIVE NOW]
[image error]A21 [GIVE NOW]
Human trafficking is an unbelievable evil that plagues our world, and often feels too big to take on, which is why I’m so thankful A21 is helping us do what we can to reach and rescue woman and men around the world who are imprisoned. During my book launch I did an interview with some of the LA office team. (Watch) & [GIVE NOW]
[image error]LA DREAM CENTER [GIVE NOW]
I’m so thankful for my friends at the Dream Center in LA and the work they are inspiring all over the world. The Dream Center feeds thousands a day, provides care, housing, rescue, education and much more to the community of LA. I could not endorse this ministry more. [GIVE NOW] I also did an interview with Pastor Matthew Barnett during my book launch, take a look: (Watch)
[image error]GENEROSITY WATER [GIVE NOW]
I love the work that my friends are doing through generosity water. We so easily take for granted the need for clean drinking water. Through direct donations or through the purchase of the bottles of generosity water, you’re able to directly target different regions of the world that are in a water crisis. They also have a powerful and unique way of tracking the donations so that you can see exactly where your money is being put to use to impact the water crisis. [GIVE NOW]
December 20, 2016
BEST OF 2016 | TOP 10 BLOGS
Before we say goodbye to 2016, I wanted to reflect quickly on THE BEST OF 2016. These are the posts that mattered the most to you! We’re believing that next year is going to be incredible, filled with opportunities to encouraging and strengthening followers of Jesus from every corner of the globe! Let’s have an incredible, faith filled 2017!
THE BEST OF 2016
We must personally surrender fully to the gospel, and if you’re a pastor, we talk about boldly bringing the full gospel even if it won’t be popular.
9. MISSION DRIFT | A REMINDER FOR PASTORS
In any church or organization, mission drift can sabotage the vision, but sometimes us as pastors can fall prey to the same thing in drifting from the focus of the mission that Jesus gave us.
God is always moving us from rumors about him to having personal conversations.
7. FIVE THINGS I LOVE ABOUT GOD’S WORD
The word of God is powerful and when we allow it, it massively Changes our lives. I talk about 5 reasons why I love the word of God and how it impacts my life.
This year was an intense political season, and this blog challenged a common thinking in culture that if you disagree it means that you’re being hateful.
5. LIVE DEVOTED
We don’t truly live fulfilled without devotion. We have a culture that tries to avoid commitment, but God’s word calls us to devote ourselves to a few specific areas. Check out the 5 areas God calls us to be devoted in.
4. HOW TO GET RID OF STRIFE IN YOUR LIFE
Strife robs our joy, and is a killer of the quality of life that God has for us. here is a quick insight on getting rid of strife.
3. I WANT IT NOW | 2 Things to Do while you wait
No matter how badly we want to rush certain seasons of our lives, there is often seasons of time and process that we cannot avoid. Here are a couple of things to do while you wait.
2. FIVE NEXT STEPS AFTER YOUR CALL TO MINISTRY
Being called into full-time ministry is truly a calling, it’s not a career choice. But once you receive that call, what are you next steps. Here are 5 that helped me.
1. THE HOLY SPIRIT & THE CHURCH
The Holy Spirit is the primary gift that Jesus gave to the church to empower and equip us, but often the Holy Spirit is neglected in church because of fear and not knowing how to embrace the power without it getting weird.
November 2, 2016
BOOK LAUNCH DAY | WITH A CAUSE!
TODAY IS THE DAY! We’ve officially released the book Following Jesus! This book focuses on helping a new believer know Jesus personally and respond to follow Jesus passionately! It’s perfect for individual study to encourage your relationship with Jesus or as a key resource to partner with Churches in their mission to reach and disciple their city!
CHAPTER OVERVIEW:
PRAYER & WORSHIP
THE BIBLE
WATER BAPTISM
THE HOLY SPIRIT
CHURCH COMMUNITY
SHARING YOUR FAITH
LOVING PEOPLE
You can get your copy of the book on the main book site or on these major retailers:
For launch week we have a few exciting things that we’re doing. First throughout the launch week, we’ll be dedicating all proceeds on different days to 3 different causes!
Causes that the book proceeds will be donating to:
A21 Campaign | Working to fight human trafficking, led by Christine Caine.
Canvas Church Plant | We’ll be investing in a new church plant led by my sister and brother-in-law, Matt and Rachel Sims.
LA Dream Center | Ministering to the needs of the greater LA area and beyond, led by Matthew Barnett.
NEW FOLLOWING JESUS INTERVIEW:
Also, just released today, a interview with a great friend of mine, Matt Brown. We talk about the book, and share some personal stories on knowing and following Jesus. Watch Interview:
So excited to get this week started! If you’d like to join in spreading the word about this book and these causes, copy and share the images/links below!
Thank you!! Let’s continue to pray for the Matthew 28 mandate from Jesus to be fulfilled; GO & MAKE DISCIPLES OF ALL NATIONS!
WAYS TO HELP SPREAD THE WORD ON LAUNCH DAY:
Write an Amazon Review: Reviews are gold online, if you can write a review on Amazon and/or any of the others that would be incredible!
Like/Follow the Social Media for the Book and repost those messages:
Facebook / Twitter / Instagram
Share On Your Social Media:
Use hashtag: #FollowingJesusBook
FollowingJesusBook.com
Use sample promo images below
CHURCH BULK RATE:
It’s $7 Off per book for churches when they use promo code: go28 (ORDER NOW)
DOWNLOAD AND SHARE
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October 25, 2016
The Convenient Gospel
If an individual is going to walk in the fullness of the good news of the gospel, they must be confronted with the full force of it’s truth. But, as pastors and church leaders we often withhold parts of the gospel because we’re unsure of how they’ll receive it. Will it scare them away? Will they like it? Will they come back to my church if I say that? But while love covers our sin, it never ignores the truth. If we withhold truth, we create an ill-equipped and passive church. In Acts we see Paul talking about having faith in Christ—something we all would claim to teach—but honestly, some of what he speaks about is rarely shared in many churches:
“Several days later Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish. He sent for Paul and listened to him as he spoke about faith in Christ Jesus. As Paul talked about righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and said, “Thatʼs enough for now! You may leave. When I find it convenient, I will send for you.”” —Acts 24:24-25 NIV
There are a lot of reasons why Paul could have withheld some information from Felix, but even with the risk, he goes for it and brings an inconvenient gospel to his audience; and it makes them uncomfortable. Why? Was it because Paul was being harsh and rude and arrogant? No, it was because he was preaching the full truth of the gospel; this gospel that calls us to holy living, resisting self indulgence, and declares that we are accountable to God for our actions.
As a preacher, our goal isn’t to make people feel uncomfortable, our goal is to bring them the gospel. All of us have to come face to face with the truth of his ultimate authority in our lives, which is often uncomfortable because it requires that I deny myself, take up his way, and follow Jesus. Don’t shy away from calling unbelievers and believers to give everything and follow Jesus. If they never hear the truth, they’ll never be able to receive his love.
A legitimate question to consider would be, “when is the last time you as a pastor or the message from your guest preacher, caused the audience to be uncomfortable?” It’s not about condemning people, it’s about loving them enough to confront them with the truth so they’re lives can be transformed into all that God intended it to be. Love doesn’t condemn, but it never withholds the truth. Remember when they brought Jesus the woman caught in adultery? What did he do? He loved her, he didn’t condemn her, but then brought truth to her by saying, now “Go, and sin no more”.
Let’s commit to bringing the whole gospel to our churches, don’t hold back. You’ll find that some can’t handle it, like Felix in the verses we read, but it’s this full-devotion call to follow Jesus that turned the world upside down, which carried the gospel to you and me, and it’s only through that kind of passionate church that we’ll see the gospel continue!
