Plans ......please pray

042412
FYI – and thanks for reading this………….
Long long ago in a universe far far away (;-} we had a Bible Study lovingly named the , “Yuck It’s Monday Bible Study.”  The purpose of this study was to encourage and help believers come to appreciate the wonder of God’s Word, to learn the fundamentals of the faith and to grow in their obedience to the Lord.
The study was started because of one young lady my wife and I had come to know and love.  She asked that if we started a Bible Study could she come.  Well, she’s done it again.  Having seen God work in and through her over almost two decades we are inclined to believe that God is again using her to lead us.
Soooooo we are praying about starting a Bible Study.  This will not be a smells, bells and spells study.  That is to say we won’t be focused on the “cool” stuff or the latest neat stuff that passes for part of the faith.  What we will be doing is examining the Word of God as a mirror to find ourselves and our individual walk with Him.  This is not about “christian” fads or fashions but about the Christian faith and the Christian’s faithfulness.
Social and cultural issues may arise but this is not to be an “Us and Them,” study.  It is to be a “Me and Him” study.  We will study doctrine and scripture in light of the battle we are called to fight.  This is not a battle with the World nor the Devil but the one battle we are commissioned to fight, the battle between the Spirit and the Flesh.
It’s too easy and futile to fight the World and the Devil and even easier to ignore the battle that rages within.  But this latter fight is the right fight, the critical fight.
I can’t tell you if you should consider attending.  But I can tell you who shouldn’t:
2Ti 4:3-4  For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions,  (4)  and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.
 Please!!!!!!!
 Pray

1. That this is permissible in His will.
2. That we will find the folks He desires to have come (or they will find us).
3. That we will find a place to meet.
4. That He will continue to provide for Patti and I materially.  Patti will continue to work as a Legal Assistant and I will continue to work as a Consultant and Counselor but this new work will bring new $ demands and take away from the time I will have for clients.  We have no plans to do the tax exempt thing at this time.  It is costly to achieve and costly to maintain.  We are praying that the folks who come and even those who can’t but want to help, will do so anyway.  ;-}  Cash is nice but helping me get clients for consulting and counseling will achieve the same end.  I really don’t want to ever give up being a “tent-maker” unless the Lord makes it very clear.
5. Pray for accountability.  Patti and I are members of Covenant Fellowship Presbyterian Church here in Greensboro.  As such we are under the authority of the Session (elders) of this congregation as members.  Though this is good, I wonder if it is sufficient since there is a difference between the nature of the accountability needed as a member and that needed as the leader of a ministry. 
6. Pray for me.  Teaching and counseling believers is really all I have ever wanted to do.  My ministry has, for the most part, been to folks who for one reason or another either haven’t or can’t find a place in any of the churches they have attended.  I don’t want to start another “church institution.”  I firmly believe that where-ever believers gather, there you have a church gathering.  I am firmly committed to the “local congregation” and am convinced we all need to have a “church home.”  Though I know for some the study may be their only fellowship with believers I will encourage everyone attending to find a “church home” – hey you can come with me and Patti.
7. Pray for me.  As a lot of you know I deal with depression.  Hey, I earned it!  It is often easy for me to get discouraged – oh, I press on but it’s tough.  Just pray I will plant my nose right between the Master’s shoulder blades and focus on following Him.  What I don’t see resulting from my ministry often loom larger than what I can see.
8. Pray for Patti – if for no other reason than she’s married to me.  But also know that whatever kind of man or teacher or counselor I may be, the Lord has and does use her mightily in my life.  She is indeed the whetstone that keeps me sharp.

 We will have a website (a freebe).  It is www.tc2v1.com .  We’re in the process of getting it up and running.  My email address will be sheepdog@tc2v1.com.  Patti can be reached at pattiami@gmail.com.
 Your prayers, suggestions, inspirations, comments, insights and encouragements will certainly be welcome.
 I am considering “ME and HIM” as the name of the study with the motto, “You don’t have to look like the other sheep to be part of the flock, you just have to follow the shepherd!”

God bless you …….
Michael