Backyard Missions

A Study on Living in God’s Dominion Here on Earth

January 10, 2013 Merlin Gonzales Backyard Missions, FHL Indiana, KIOM, Message, Speaking Engagements

“Many are the Christian casualties in the spiritual realm because they take Christianity casually here in our world.” ~ Merlin

My next blogs will be focused on assisting you in your spiritual growth through a Study on Living in God’s Dominion Here on Earth.

This purpose of this 4-week class is to ignite your passion to live a life characterized by your relationship and faith with God. It is designed to be interactive, relational and conversational with Biblical teachings to encourage an atmosphere of camaraderie and support.

Spiritual discontent is sweeping the nation. People of different faith are looking for more. Although they cannot define “more”, they know that they are not yet operating their lives according to their calling. Some of them know their purpose but they do not know what’s the next step.

In John 15:1-2, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.” Branches that are not bearing fruits are cut off so the vine can bear even more fruits.

This study will:

Help you discover and affirm your higher calling
Encourage you to step out in faith in your daily walk with God
Rapidly increase your spiritual growth
Assist you in broadening your vision with Biblical principles
Challenge you to apply the Scripture in your “Practical Learning Application” (PAL)
Make you more aware of living in God’s Dominion here on earth

More to come!

2012 in review

December 31, 2012 Merlin Gonzales Backyard Missions, FHL Indiana

Thank you for subscribing to this Blog. We had posted 142 blogs this year and had 54 countries that viewed this blog site. You can click the link below to see more stat about this blog.

We are looking forward for expanded blogging in 2013. Please send me any suggestions and ideas you want see on our blog. See you around.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

The new Boeing 787 Dreamliner can carry about 250 passengers. This blog was viewed about 1,700 times in 2012. If it were a Dreamliner, it would take about 7 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

Miracles in Our Midst

December 20, 2012 Merlin Gonzales Backyard Missions, FHL Indiana, Testimony

Last week, I had lunch with one of our ministry partners at a restaurant in Castleton in Indianapolis, IN. At our table, we were greeted by a high-energy waiter; he smiled and asked for our orders. After a few minutes, he came back with our delicious food. Just before he left our table, I asked him if we can pray for him. The question caught him off guard and suddenly, he got quiet. It took him almost a minute before he look at me and with a couple of deep breath, he asked to pray for his marriage. He left immediately so my friend & I prayed for his marriage and blessed our food.

During the course of our stay in the restaurant, our waiter visited our table a few times thanking us for praying for him. Just as we were about ready to leave, he gave me a card with a note, “Thank you soo much for the prayer, you have no idea what it means to me!”

This morning, one of our ministry leaders, Bill & I visited one of our volunteers who was hospitalized 4 weeks ago. The operation restricted her to move around. At the end of our visit. We prayed for her. Nehemiah 8:10 came to mind, “for the joy in the Lord is your strength.” and I shared it with her.

Suddenly, she stood up quickly as if she was fully recovered. She walked rapidly towards her piano, cleared the bench and looked for a hymnal. I did not know what was happening. To my surprise, she played, “Joy to the World.” I was floored to hear how she played it with passion. A simple words of encouragement lifted her faith and changed the spiritual atmosphere in her residence.

These 2 stories of simple acts of kindness and encouraging words can be the miracle that people are waiting for this Christmas season. As we are getting close to Christmas Day, keep in mind that God can use you mightily in someone’s life…the best gift that you can give. The reality of the Kingdom begins within you.

After a few thousand years…

December 17, 2012 Merlin Gonzales Backyard Missions

In the Old Testament, Moses had the same issue. In Numbers 13 and 14, Moses was instructed by God to send one leader from each of the 12 ancestral tribes. They were to explore the land of Canaan with very specific orders: find out if the people living there are weak or strong, few or many, and find out if the land is fertile. After 40 days of exploration, the men reported that the land was a bountiful country—land flowing with milk and honey. But they also found out that the people living there were powerful and their towns were fortified. Ten out of the twelve men came back with negative reports, trying to convince the entire community not to take the land. They said it would be impossible to conquer it. They would prefer to go back to being slaves again in Egypt or to die in the desert.

After a few thousand years, our society is still the same. There are more negative people than the Calebs and the Joshuas. More people complain and even convince others why it cannot be done even though God has already told them to take the land. More people are willing to go back to the slavery in Egypt than to work hard and take the promise. All twelve spies reported the same information but only two believed God and were willing to take the land—that’s just 16% who came back with courage to do God’s work. Remember in my previous Blog, the pastors said that, generally, only 10%-20% of the congregation tithes and does the works of the church.

God had promised the people a land flowing with milk and honey. All they had to do was take it. Instead of believing God, they came up with all kinds of excuses and rebelled against God by not taking action. The end of the story was that God granted their wish to rebel; no one in their generation, including Moses, reached the Promised Land except Caleb and Joshua.

Our generation has the responsibility to take action to take the land. Similar to the generation of Moses, the future of the next generation depends on our generation. We are all a part of the history of Christianity in the U.S. and in the world. Our generation can reverse the trend of increasing apathy of the church by taking God for His Word.

Next, I will share with you some practical and simple things that Christians can do to reverse the trend. Missions is not an event but a lifestyle.

For a full story regarding the 10/40 window in our own backyard, you can order my book, The Kingdom in Our Midst by visiting www.merlingonzales.com

The 10/40 Window in our own backyards

December 4, 2012 Merlin Gonzales Backyard Missions, FHL Indiana

I had mentioned in my previous Blog that I will be writing more about the origin of the 10/40 window in our midst. Here’s an excerpt from my book, The Kingdom in our Midst:

In 1990, Luis Bush coined the phrase “10/40 window,” which refers to the section of the world that is least reached by the Gospel. These regions have roughly two-thirds of the world’s population. Many governments in these countries formally or informally prohibit Christian teachings. Thus, the term “window” was used because of the window of opportunity to evangelize these countries.

According to Wikipedia, approximately 77% of the U.S. population was Christians in 2009, down from 86% in 1990. This should not surprise us since the U.S. has become too secularized in its approach to life. The country that has the motto “In God We Trust” on its currency is now divided in its approach to Christianity. If the trend continues at its current rate, Christians could be the minority in the decades to come. We may be looking at the next 10/40 window right in our own backyard.

My recent conversations with a few local Christian denominational leaders revealed that about 10%-20% of the congregations tithe and are active in the works of the church. This means that about 85% of Christians are church-goers (I heard someone referred to them as half-baked Christians or part-time Christians), but are not actively involved in sharing the Gospel and are not being discipled. In general, who are the Christians in this country? Do they reflect Christ in their lives? Can we easily distinguish a Christian in a crowd? Or is it getting harder and harder to identify them?

In my next Blog, I will share more excerpts from my book relating to the same topic with a view from the Old Testament.

PS/ You order my book at www.amazon.com www.createspace.com on the 12th OR you can pre order it now at www.merlingonzales.com