rob singleton

making an impact for God

rob singleton - making an impact for God

Category Archives: General

Only the Lowly

It’s 3:50 AM right now and I’m wide awake. It’s not a bad thing—I’m not mad or anything. In fact, God sometimes does this and I very much look forward to it. Why? Because He never wakes me up without a reason. He always has something to tell me. It’s just up to me to listen.

Not always easy.

So where did I start today?

Where I’ve asked my fellow Impactors to start—the book of Luke. I’ve been absolutely devouring this great gospel over the last several weeks, chewing on some passages over and over again before moving on to the next. There’s so much here! But today the Lord has one simple truth for me—three words…

“Only the Lowly”

Now, I don’t believe the Lord is saying that He only likes poor, sick, unpopular, marginalized and forgotten people—but He IS saying they’re a whole lot more effective in spreading the Good News of the gospel than superstars who think they have it all together.

Think about it…

He could have been born of a queen. What about entering the world as the son of Caesar Augustus and Livia—after all, she bore Caesar no children—Jesus could have been the one and only—born into the most powerful family on earth at the time. Instead, God chose a poor, unmarried virgin to be the mother of the Son of God!

Jesus could have been born in a palace and attended to by a myriad of servants. Instead He was born behind the Marriott in a cave like barn for animals.

Jesus could have been announced by Roman legions marching down the streets in a huge parade. Instead, there was a heavenly host making an announcement in a field to a bunch of shepherds.

And what about those shepherds? Wouldn’t it have been better to have appeared to all the kings on earth and had them come pay tribute?

Apparently not.

But why? It’s obviously important. The Bible is so vividly clear in God’s insistence on using humble and lowly (read here: ‘Meek’) people over Hollywood popular, Politically savvy, or independently wealthy, self sufficient individuals. And if anyone wants to do great things for the King of Kings they need to get this.

The Bible tells us that God responds to the humble hearted. 2 Chron. 7:14 says,

“Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.”

That will be my main focus this coming Sunday as we enter week 4 of our study through the gospel of Luke, entitled, “Rx – God’s Prescriptions for Abundant Living,” with the message entitled, “High Risk Pregnancy.”

I’ll share what God told me regarding the questions raised in this post.

Invite all your friends!

See you there (@ Impact!)!

Champions of the Week

 

This week we were all introduced to a group of young people willing to step out and serve at a moment’s notice! I first noticed them two weekends ago when we had a powerful time of prayer after the service and had an immediate need for mature believers to step forward and pray for the dozens stepping out for prayer. Among the first were 2 young ladies I’d never seen at Impact before—Emily and Kara (as I later discovered). They are two DTS leaders at YWAM Monroe (YWAM stands for, Youth With A Mission).

On only their second week at Impact, they (along with Drew Podrebarek) answered another urgent call for help in scripture reading and singing for praise and worship. Drew and his fiancé, Sidney also stepped forward to help with our students ministry. In fact, all of them willing to serve wherever asked, no matter how up front or behind the scenes the need. This is what they teach at YWAM and they should be very proud because it’s paid of in at least two individuals—though I highly suspect hundreds more!

Thanks to all who tirelessly serve at Impact Church!

Monday Evening Mind Dump!

 

 

·      Another full house on Sunday—and lots of new faces! People really seemed to like mixing things up by alternating music and preaching.

 

·      It’s great to see the praise and worship team growing as well! Several new faces on stage and several waiting in the wings! Special thanks to the YWAM (Youth With A Mission) students who helped fill in when we had so many people out! YWAM is an awesome missions outreach program! Their people go all over the world (often to dangerous and marginalized places) and share the gospel message with little care for themselves and their own needs. They undergo two years of intense discipleship training as well and are ready and willing to step up and serve wherever they are! That was very apparent this past Sunday! Thanks again, Emily and Cara!

 

·      Loved seeing Drew up there too! We needed someone to read scripture and he stepped right up—even though that’s not particularly in his comfort zone!

 

·      So great to see Charis join Will one last time before they arrive in North Carolina permanently three weeks from now. Please keep them in your prayers as they are undergoing HUGE changes all at once with a new marriage, baby on the way, Will graduating college, and uprooting from the home they’ve always known to start a brand new adventure in North Carolina. Wow! It takes a long time just to type all that!

 

·      So thankful and amazed with all the volunteers we have at Impact! They aren’t just showing up or ‘mailing it in.’ They are serving with excitement and passion to see God do something great through ordinary people. Keep it up, gang! God is already moving big but the best is yet to come!