New Year's Revolution

It's December 31st, and this is the time of the year when people around the world will make New Year's Resolutions... that will maybe last (if they have lots of will power!) to the middle of next week. The top 5 resolutions people made last year were:

5. stop smoking
4. make more money
3. improve relationships
2. exercise more
1. lose weight (the number one resolution!)

The following statement might shock some of you: Don't make any New Year's Resolutions this year! Instead, let's have a New Year REVOLUTION. What is a revolution? Revolution is defined as: the action by a celestial body of going round in an orbit or elliptical course, as in “the revolution of the earth about the sun takes one year"; a sudden or radical and far-reaching change in ways of thinking and behaving.

This year, instead of making some superficial resolutions that will only last a week, let's make a radical revolution in our thinking and behaving, and make some changes in our lives that will have eternal significance! Here are 12 different suggestions for revolutionary changes that you can make as we head into 2009. I'm not saying that you must do every one of them, but pick one or two that you think might benefit you in your own spiritual journey, and determine to put them into practice in your life.

1. GET TO KNOW JESUS BETTER.
"O God, You are my God; Early will I seek You; My soul thirsts for You; My flesh longs for You In a dry and thirsty land Where there is no water." (Psalm 63:1).
The best goal you can set for the New Year is to focus on your personal relationship with Jesus. Spend time with Jesus in prayer every day. He is a friend who sticks closer than a brother, and delights to hear from you. Going through a difficult valley or storm? Call upon His name, for He is mighty to save!

2. READ YOUR BIBLE.
"This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success." (Joshua 1:8).
After making a commitment to get to know Jesus better, the next most important goal you can set for yourself is to get into God's Word every day. Not only will the Bible make your way prosperous and give you good success, but it will give you joy, peace, light and direction for your life, victory over sin, and more. On top of all of that, it will help you to strengthen your faith.

3. FOCUS ON RELATIONSHIPS.
"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you." (John 13:34).
Jesus said that the two greatest commandments are to love God and love people. There is nothing more important in life than focusing on relationships, and God's Word is full of principles to teach us how to have deep and meaningful relationships with one another. Love, acceptance and forgiveness are three of the keys to having healthy friendships with other people.

4. BE FAITHFUL IN CHURCH ATTENDANCE:
"And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage and warn each other, especially now that the day of his coming back again is drawing near." (Hebrews 10:25).
God created every one of us with a deep need to connect in deep and meangful relationships with one another, and one of the very first things He said about human beings was, "It is not good that man should be alone." Church is a place where we can be encouraged and challenged by other believers, and where we can experience God's presence in worship, and grow spiritually through the ministry of the Word. Make a commitment to be faithful in church attendance in 2009!

5. BE A GENEROUS GIVER:
"I will bless you... and you shall be a blessing." (Genesis 12:2).
As Christians, God has blessed us to be a blessing. Jesus said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive." Our Heavenly Father gave us an example as an extravagant, generous giver when He gave us the gift of His son, Jesus, and He calls us to model His generous giving in every area of our lives. Freely we have received, let's freely give.

6. DISCOVER YOUR SPIRITUAL GIFTS:
"God has given gifts to each of you from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Manage them well so that God's generosity can flow through you." (1 Peter 4:10).
What an amazing thought, that God has given gifts to everyone! His desire is that we would discover and develop those gifts, so that His generosity can flow through us. If you don't know what your spiritual gifts are, then make a commitment to discover what they are, and then develop them so that you can bless those around you.

7. SERVE OTHERS:
"Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant...For even I, the Son of Man, came here not to be served but to serve others." (Mark 10:43,45).
Jesus said that the greatest people in the Kingdom of God would be those who serve others. This is our highest calling as Christians! Let us look for ways that we can loving serve the Lord, and serve people around us. Look for areas where you can serve in the local church, and in your families as well.

8. TELL PEOPLE THE GOOD NEWS ABOUT JESUS:
"Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature." (Mark 16:15).
Do you have friends or family members who don't know Jesus as their Lord and Saviour? The greatest gift that you can give them in this New Year would be to introduce them to Jesus, so that they can experience salvation. Let's make it our goal to take as many people to Heaven as we can!

9. WALK IN FORGIVENESS:
"And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you." (Eph. 4:32).
One of the most wonderful gifts that God has given us is forgiveness of sins. And one of the greatest graces that we can extend to others is to forgive them, too. The Bible warns us of the dangers of unforgiveness when it says, "looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled." (Heb. 12:15). Are there any relationships in your life where you are hanging onto on offense, and refusing to forgive someone? Start the New Year right and choose to release that person, and forgive them!

10. LIVE NEW LIFE:
"So I advise you to live according to your new life in the Holy Spirit. Then you won't be doing what your sinful nature craves." (Galatians 5:16).
One of the themes the Lord has given me for 2009 is NEW LIFE. How do we experience new life in Christ? It happens when we choose to say no to sin, and yes to God. Are there any habitual sins in your life that you want to overcome? Call on the mighty name of Jesus, who came to save His people from their sins. Confess your sins to the Lord, and He is faithful and just to forgive you your sins, and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness.

11. GET INVOLVED IN SMALL GROUPS:
"Two people can accomplish more than twice as much as one; they get a better return for their labor. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But people who are alone when they fall are in real trouble." (Ecc. 4:9-10).
It's not good enough to just go to church on Sunday mornings, although that is obviously very important. Every one of us needs a place where we can know and be known, love and be loved, and be able to connect with other believers in deep and meaningful relationships. Home Groups are a place where we care for one another, pray for one another, and bear one another's burdens. If you haven't been involved in home groups in the past, make a commitment to get involved in one in 2009.

12. READ GOOD SPIRITUAL BOOKS:
"Getting wisdom is the most important thing you can do." (Prov. 4:7).
In addition to reading the Bible, another way we can grow spiritually is by reading good spiritual books. One of the reason God gave us teachers is to equip God's people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ (Eph. 4:12). Reading good Christian books will help you to grow in the faith. Tomorrow, I will post for you my top 10 list of recommended spiritual books for reading.

So there you have it - 12 New Year's REVOLUTIONS. Someone said once, "If you do what you've always done, you'll have what you've always had." If you're not satisfied with where you're at in life in general, or your spiritual life specifically, then be willing to do whatever it takes to have what you want. Let's make some changes as we head into this new year, and experience the abundant, blessed, new life that Jesus offers to us!

Praying that God would richly bless you as we head into 2009,
Pastor Chris Jordan

Strengthened in Faith

As we are getting ready to head into 2009, I want to help you to strengthen your faith. "And this is the victory that has overcome the world - our faith." (1 John 5:4). The more your faith grows, the more prepared you will be to overcome the world, calm the storms, and move the mountains in your life! The Bible says: "Abraham did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform." (Romans 4:20-21). Like Abraham, your faith can grow and be strengthened. But how?

"So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God." (Romans 10:17). If you want your faith to grow, you need to get into God's Word. Therefore, I have designed several resources to help you to strengthen your faith as we head into this New Year. You can click on the links in the headers, or visit our website http://www.beausejourchurch.ca/ to download any of these resources. Note - these are all PDF documents, so you will need to have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer to be able to open them.

THE FIVE MINUTE CHALLENGE: Bible Reading Schedule
This daily Bible reading schedule is designed to take you through the New Testament, Psalms and Proverbs by the end of the year. This is the best way you can develop your faith - by getting into God's Word for yourself, and getting God's Word into your heart.

FAITH - THE VICTORY THAT OVERCOMES THE WORLD: Audio MP3
In 2009, we are going to encounter many storms, but Jesus has given us the key to experiencing a victory that overcomes the world – our faith. Therefore, this audio sermon (a message I preached last Sunday morning) is designed to help you learn what faith is, and how you can strengthen our faith.

FAITH BUILDING RESOURCES: Product Catalogue
This product catalogue is a listing of over 105 audio sermons, six mini-books, and six month-long daily devotionals designed to help you build your faith. All of these can be downloaded from our website free of charge, or can be ordered through our church office for a suggested donation of $3 each.

2008 SERMONS: Sermon outlines
This document contains the outlines for all of the sermons I preached on Sunday mornings at Beausejour Community Church in 2008. You can use these to follow along with any of our audio messages, or they can be used as a springboard for your own Bible study. Topics include:

• Bible Study
• Blessed Life Series
• Canada
• Christmas Messages
• Discipleship
• Easter Messages
• End Times and Eternity
• Evangelism
• Faith
• Family Life
• Finances
• Healing
• Heroes Series
• Help in Troubled Times
• Life and Destiny
• Love and Relationships
• Prayer and Knowing God
• Revival Series

Praying that you would experience New Life in 2009!

- Pastor Chris

http://www.beausejourchurch.ca/

The Day After

Dear friends,

Well, the presents have been opened, the turkey has been consumed, and my mom and my sister Jodi and her family have packed up their cars and are on their way back to Saskatchewan. It was a short visit, but a good one, and it was great having family around for Christmas. We also had Liza's mom, and our good friend Jen, spend Christmas with us. Here are some photos of Christmas day, and of the kids with some of their favourite gifts. Austin has already put together four complete Lego sets, and hasn't even tackled the 1,200 piece one yet!

Anyway, I hope you had a wonderful Christmas spendimg time with loved ones, and reflecting upon the true meaning of Christmas - celebrating the birth of Jesus, the Saviour of the world.

Lots of love,

Pastor Chris

The True Meaning of Christmas - A Story

Dear friends,

On the afternoon of Christmas Eve, when I did a chapel at Eastgate Lodge for the residents there, I brought my daughter Tori with me, and had her share a story she had written last Christmas. She had written this story for a school writing contest... and won! Not only did she receive a $50 award, but her story was also published in our local newspaper, the Beausejour Review. Today, I want to share this story with you, wishing you and your family a very Merry Christmas! Lots of love, Pastor Chris

THE TRUE MEANING OF CHRISTMAS
By Tori Jordan (age 9)

Most people think Christmas is just a holiday when you get presents, but I’m going to tell you the real story of Christmas. There once was a girl named Mary. Mary wasn’t married when something amazing happened.

One day Mary was just cleaning her house when an angel appeared to her. The angel said, “Don’t be afraid. I’m here to tell you that you will be the mother of God’s son and you will get married to Joseph.” At first Mary thought the angel got her mixed up with someone else. The angel said to Mary “God is sure – He wants you to be the mother of His son.”

That night, after the angel appeared to Mary, a man named Joseph had a dream. In his dream he saw an angel, the same angel that had appeared to Mary. The angel said, “You will get married to a girl named Mary, and you will have a son and name him Jesus.”

The king of the land where they lived said that all the men have to go to the town where they were born. So Joseph had to go to Bethlehem. Mary said she wanted to go with him.

So Mary and Joseph started to get ready for their trip. Mary and Joseph brought a donkey with them. Their journey was very long. So they started their journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem. Mary was pregnant on their journey. Mary was getting very tired.

When they got to Bethlehem there was no room anywhere. At one place there was a stable. The man who owned the inn said they could stay in the stable if they wanted to. That night Jesus was born, Mary’s first child.

In a field near where they were some shepherds were watching their sheep when an angel appeared to them. The angel said, “Do not be afraid I bring you good news of great joy and this will be to all people. For unto you a savior has been born He is the Lord. You will find Him lying in a manger wrapped in cloth.” Then the shepherds saw more angels and they started to sing. After that the shepherds went to the stable.

That is why we celebrate Christmas because of Jesus’ birth.

Christmas Is... Giving

Dear friends,

Jesus said: "It is more blessed to give than to receive." (Acts 20:35). Christmas is not about the presents under the tree, and it's not about what we receive... it's about what we give to others. That is the true spirit of Christmas! And so, every year, our church puts together Christmas hampers to help be a blessing to single parent families in our church and community. This morning, Liza, Tori and Hannah came to the church to help me put the hampers together, and later tonight, Caleb and Austin are going to help me deliver them. I want to give a huge thank you to all of the members of Beausejour Community Church - and the ladies from our local Curves - whose generosity contributed to the amazing hampers we were able to make.

This Christmas, I want to encourage you to look for ways to be a blessing to others... love, serve, give, be generous, and do all so that the light of Jesus can shine brightly through you!

Lots of love,

Pastor Chris

p.s. in the photos below: The first one is Liza and the girls sorting out all of the food items and presents. The second one is what one complete hamper looks like...

Happy Birthday, Austin!

Dear friends,

Last night, we went into Winnipeg for a double feature event - we celebrated Austin's 9th birthday, and had an early Christmas with Liza's side of the family. Here are some photos...

Wishing you and your family a very Merry Christmas!

- Pastor Chris

Celebrating Christmas

Dear friends,

Okay, this past weekend was just insanely busy! Our youth had a formal Christmas dinner at the church Friday night, then Saturday afternoon we had our rehearsal for our children's Christmas concert. Church was Sunday morning, then Sunday night we had the kids musical, and our youth did a drama as well. It was a full weekend, but man, it was a good one! in our morning service, we sang Christmas carols, Tori read a Christmas story she wrote (that was published in our local newspaper) and took at look at the story of the wise men in Matthew chapter two. Here are some photos from the Christmas concert, and from our coffee and fellowship time afterward. (We have lots more on facebook!).

Wishing you and your family a Merry Christmas!

- Pastor Chris

Meet me at the Manger

Dear friends,

Here is a photo sneak peak at Meet me at the Manger, our children's Christmas musical that we will be presenting Sunday, Dec. 21st at 6:00 pm at Beausejour Community Church. Make sure you get there early if you want to get a good seat!

- Pastor Chris

It's the Most Busiest Time of the Year!

Dear friends,

It is true that Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year - but it's also the busiest! Between Christmas parties, dinners, concerts, and more, it seems like almost every night is occupied with celebrations of some sort! This past week, our kids had their annual children's concerts at their school. Although the majority of the songs were about snow and jingle bells, I was very pleased when they ended off the concert with an audience participation in the singing of Silent Night:

Silent night, holy night!
Shepherds quake at the sight
Glories stream from heaven afar
Heavenly hosts sing Alleluia!
Christ, the Saviour is born
Christ, the Saviour is born!

See if you can find Hannah, Tori and Austin in the photos below...

Merry Christmas!
- Pastor Chris

A New Name - New Life!

Dear friends,

To those of you who have been following my blog for the past two years, you know that we have changed the name twice now. The original name, The Promised Land, was penned in 2007 and described the transition and journey from being west coast youth pastors, to being the lead pastors of a little church on the prairies. In 2008, we changed the name to New Beginnings to reflect the theme that the Lord had given us as a church family, and today, we are changing the name of the blog to New Life, to reflect the focus the Lord has given us for 2009. The concept of New Life is one that is seen throughout the Scriptures:

Ps 104:30 - When you send your Spirit, new life is born to replenish all the living of the earth.

2Co 5:17 - What this means is that those who become Christians become new persons. They are not the same anymore, for the old life is gone. A new life has begun!

Col 2:12 - For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with him you were raised to a new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead.

My prayer for you as we head into 2009 is that YOU would experience New Life in Christ!

- Pastor Chris

Great Christmas Gift for Friends with Cell Phones

Dear friends,





Do you have a friend with a cell phone, and are you looking for the perfect Christmas gift for them?

According to a new law that may go into effect, you will no longer be able to use a cell phone while driving unless you have a 'hands free' adapter.

I went to Best Buy and they wanted $50 for a headset with a microphone for my cell phone.

Having a friend in the cell phone business, I talked with him and was able to come up with an alternative, working through Office Depot.

These kits are compatible with any mobile phone and one size fits all.

I paid him $0.08 each because he bought in quantity.

Then we tried it with Motorola, Sprint, Verizon and Nokia units and they worked perfectly.

A photo is attached so scroll down & take a look and let me know if you want one.

Merry Christmas!

12 Christmas Gifts from Heaven

12 Christmas Gifts from Heaven:

“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.” (James 1:17).

Have you ever heard someone say, “Christmas really isn’t about the gifts or presents!” I disagree with that statement! Now if they were to clarify that statement by saying, “Christmas really isn’t about the gifts or presents that are wrapped under the Christmas tree” then I would be more apt to agree with them. However, I personally believe that Christmas IS about the gifts—the gifts that God has given us from Heaven! There’s a well-known Christmas song called “The Twelve Days of Christmas” that talks about 12 different gifts that ‘my true love gave to me.’

For the next 12 days leading up to Christmas, we are going to consider the 12 Christmas gifts from Heaven that our True Love has given to us. You can read about them by visiting our daily devotional blog at http://chris-jordan.blogspot.com/.

Wishing you and your family a very Merry Christmas,

Pastor Chris Jordan

Getting Ready for Christmas

Dear friends,

We just celebrated our first Christmas service this past Sunday morning. I love Christmas! And because of that, we're celebrating Christmas all month long. Come and join us on Sunday morning in December to rejoice with us through Christmas carols, special music and dramas, and messages based on the Christmas story. Remember - Jesus is the Reason for the Season! Let's keep Christ in Christmas...

NEW CHRISTMAS MP3 MESSAGE: "Getting Ready for Christmas"
We have just uploaded our first Christmas message of 2008 to iTunes. Getting Ready for Christmas is a message about John the Baptist, a prophet who came to prepare the people for the First Advent of Christ. His story teaches us how we can get ready for Christmas, so that we can receive Christ into our hearts and our homes. To listen to this message online, visit our website at: http://www.beausejourchurch.ca/.

To listen to Podcasts through iTunes
In addition to downloading and listening to the messages individually you can subscribe to our Podcast and receive the latest messages as they become available, using iTunes.
To subscribe to iTunes:

1. Open up iTunes. If you do not have iTunes, click the link below to download it for free!
   Follow the instructions on the download page: http://www.apple.com/itunes/download/
2. Once in iTunes, click the "Advanced" tab located in the upper left navigation menu of iTunes.
3. Then click "Subscribe to Podcast."
4. When a pop-up window appears, copy and paste the link (listed below) in the window: Radio podcast http://www.sermonplayer.com/c/chrisjordan/rss/
5. When you have correctly copied and pasted the link into the window, click OK.

CHRISTMAS HAMPERS:
Jesus said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive." Our Kingdom Kids Children’s Ministry is organizing our Christmas Hamper program this year. In an effort to have complete, balanced hampers, we have put together “The Giving Tree.” On this tree, you will find the handprints of all of our children, and on the hand is the name of a food item. We would ask that each family would take a handprint (or handprints!) from the tree and bring those items in. We will be collecting all non-perishable items in the Kingdom Kids room from now until Dec. 21st, but please don’t send perishable food items until Dec. 22nd, when we will be preparing and delivering the hampers. Financial donations will be gladly accepted as well. Thank you for being a blessing!

CHILDREN’S CHRISTMAS CONCERT - DEC. 21 at 6:00 pm:
“Meet me at the Manger” is an energetic children’s musical about the gifts of the wise men. We will have a coffee and dessert fellowship after the musical, and we are asking every family in the church to bring something. We will have a full dress rehearsal on Sat. Dec. 20 from 1-4 pm.

NEW MINI-BOOK - JOY TO THE WORLD:

I've just finished publishing my seventh mini-book, "Joy to the World: Experiencing the Joy of Christmas." Christmas is about declaring, “Joy to the world, the Lord has come.” God’s desire is that His people would be full of joy. There are three keys to experiencing the joy of the Kingdom – worshipping the King, spending time with the King, and submitting to the King. You can download it from our website, or order a copy from the church office.

Wishing you and your family a Merry Christmas,
Pastor Chris

Enter the Story: Advent Conspiracy

What if Christmas became a world-changing event again by turning our focus back to the birth of Christ? What could happen to your family if this focus was celebrated in loud, bold and totally unexpected ways?

Visit our blog at http://thelandofpromise.blogspot.com/ to watch the Advent Conspiracy video.
- Pastor Chris

Prayer for Canada

Dear friends,

Many of you are troubled and unsettled by recent events that are happening in the political scene in our nation of Canada, with the announcement of the proposed NDP/Liberal coalition. What should we as believers do?

Our first response of course is obvious: Let us pray for the leaders of our country! First Timothy 2:1-4 says: "Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth."

Here we have a commandment and a promise. We are commanded to pray for our leaders, and we are promised that - as we do this - God will enable us to live a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence.

Secondly, I want to remind and encourage you to give honour to all of those who are in authority in the government. The Bible says, "Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves." (Romans 13:1-2). We do not have the right to complain about the government, but rather to pray for them, and honour them.

Also, I've included a link with this post to Craig Millar's Blog, "Millar Time." Craig is a Foursquare Pastor in Courtenay, BC, and shares a lot of wisdom in his posts:

Liberal, NDP, Bloc Coalition: It is becoming clear that these men have no plan, no clue, are being fiscally destructive, and bound (in writing! ) to consult with and satisfy separatist traitors on matters that will affect all Canadians. These guys are prepared to sacrifice the progress (fiscally) that all Canadians have worked so hard on the last 12 years. They want to not only run a deficit - but one with a plan (if you can call it that)that will destroy our finances - and quite possibly the unity -- of our nation.
National Post: The incongruities of the coalition are becoming more apparent by the day. We have no idea how Mr. Dion is going to come up with a stimulus package more quickly than the massed ranks in the Department of Finance, who are toiling to complete the next budget in time for the end of January.There are no details of what will be in it, beyond the fact that it will cost $30-billion, a figure TD Bank chief economist Don Drummond says will drive Canada into a structural, prolonged deficit. It sounds very much like the coalition has not worked out what the country needs — it has merely picked a big number and will now decide how to spend it.
Globe and Mail: But Mr. Dion said leaders could not say when stimulus details would be revealed, or how much the plan would cost, arguing they do not yet know when they would take power and have not seen the country's hidden fiscal details.
National Post Harper speaking: Mr. Speaker in an internal letter today the BQ leader says the coalition the will take control of control of the administration of the federal state. We will have the creation of a mechanism of permanent consultation empowering the BQ on every matter of importance notably concerning the adoption of the budget."This Prime Minister, this government, this party has never and will never sign a document like that."

To read the rest of this article, and another insightful post on the topic, go HERE:

http://millarcraig.blogspot.com/

- Pastor Chris Jordan

Taking the Plunge! (Water Baptism Photos)

Dear friends,

This past Sunday morning, we had a water baptism at our church. Two adults - Brenda and Kevin - and four of our young people - Kevin, Shantal, Thomas, and my son Caleb - were baptised in water. Baptism is one of the two ordinances initiated by Jesus (the other being communion), and this one represents entrance into the church. It is identifying with Jesus in His death, burial and resurrection, declaring Him Lord, and making a public profession of faith. We had a wonderful morning with great praise and worship (thanks Colin and worship team!), a message on "Experiencing New Life" based on the story of the blind man that Jesus healed in John chapter 9, and the testimonies of those who were being baptised. You can visit our website at http://www.beausejourchurch.ca/ if you want to download the audio message and testimonies from the baptismal service.

- Pastor Chris

Photos: Left (Shantal testifying); Middle (Brenda, Thomas, Caleb, Kevin and Kevin waiting to share their testimonies); Right (Caleb in the baptismal tank).