I was reading Genesis this morning and I came across this verse:

Genesis 22:17 That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;

And that last bit struck my interest because a) the idea of stealing someones front door and walking off with it amuses me, and b) I seemed to remember Sampson actually doing it. (Talk about a piratical joke. And people think God’s no fun…)

Judges 16:2 And it was told the Gazites, saying, Samson is come hither. And they compassed him in, and laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and were quiet all the night, saying, In the morning, when it is day, we shall kill him.
3 And Samson lay till midnight, and arose at midnight, and took the doors of the gate of the city, and the two posts, and went away with them, bar and all, and put them upon his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of an hill that is before Hebron.

So it turns out that he had a good reason. It was a preemptive strike, but they were going to kill him so hitting second wasn’t such a good option. I just wonder how he kept himself from snickering (or waking anyone up while he was ripping the gates out of the ground for that matter.)

What he actually stole was the gate from the wall around the city, and the posts that hold them in place. This is a bit more important than anyone’s front door, because it was what kept attacking armies outside. (And if you read how much Samson kicked these guys asses, you’ll realize that they needed any protection they could get.)

And in case you’re wondering, Samson is in Abraham’s blood line. He was of the tribe of the Danites. The 12 tribes of Israel were from the sons of Jacob, son of Isaac, son of Abraham.

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By Daniella Rich, Fellowlaborer ’07-‘08

As fellowlaborers, we are working with God in Christ in us to be His “witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8, NIV). Jesus directed these words to all those who are willing to talk his talk and walk his walk. The fellowlaborers have had many opportunities to operate Acts 1:8 these past few weeks.

We witness Christ by fulfilling our fellowlaborer responsibilities. At the October Young Adult Advance, we served by maintaining the church building, helping with meals, driving the attendees, and much more. As we met the body’s material needs, God helped us see how we could serve spiritual needs as well. We ministered the power of God not for one hour or with one person, but for the entire weekend and with everyone! “Fellowship” took on a new meaning that weekend – we shared our hearts with each other. What we had to give varied with each person, but we all gave God’s Word to each other.

Others’ examples have also taught us how to witness Christ. When some of us went to the Weekend in the Word at Rockford, Illinois, we experienced Christ’s love and power as we fellowshipped with dynamic believers. Teachers and disciples from all over the world came to rejoice in God’s Word. Friendships were made, needs were met, and lives were changed – and all because believers acted on the promises of God. The Day in the Word at Tipp City, Ohio was another amazing opportunity to see the example of other leaders and grow in our knowledge of the Word. These events have given the fellowlaborers the chance to serve and individually discover our roles in the body of Christ.

Our radical expectations of God are increasing as December rolls around the corner. The December Young Adults Advance in Florida will be another opportunity to work the Word in our lives. For we now know that the works of the Church did not stop with Paul in Acts 28: because we hear and act upon the Word of God, we are living in Acts 29!

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By Daniella Rich, Fellow Laborer’07-08

“…Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.” (Matt. 9:36-38). As fellow laborers this year, seven young adults are answering this call to action by Jesus Christ. We hail from different parts of the United States – Amanda LeBlanc and Victoria Johnson represent Florida, Mike Miller comes from Illinois, Francis Cardullo, Nathan Friedly, and Ron Shannon grew up in Ohio, and I’m from Maryland. We come from different backgrounds, different families, and different stages of our walks with God. But we all are eager and determined to work as laborers for the “harvest” of the world by becoming leaders and servants in the body of Christ.

Being a laborer with Christ is an exciting and humbling experience. In the three weeks since the Fellow Laborers program has begun, we have already grown in our walks of faith. When we first sought housing, God found houses for the four guys and three girls that are several doors away from each other in affordable, accommodating homes. As we searched for jobs, God provided work for each of us and inclusively taught us patience and peace. Our first ten-minute teachings last week were full of testimonies, principles, and lessons God has taught us since we’ve arrived.

God has not only ensured that all our needs are provided for, but He’s also given us the best support – each other! I still can’t believe how well each of us ‘clicked’ with each other since the first day of the program. Despite demanding work schedules, I see Romans 12:10-13 – “brotherly love” – come alive when we come together in our tri-weekly Fellow Laborers meetings, Tuesday night fellowships, and our Friday “Get to Know People” nights. We are confident that God has brought us together this year and at this point in our lives for His divine purpose, and we are thrilled to continue to discover what He has in store for us!

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The Power of God’s Word

Joyell Nevins
January 23rd, 2006

What are some powerful things in this world? Guns, tornadoes, bulldozers, all have a lot of power and can have a serious impact. But I want to introduce you today to the MOST powerful thing there is.

(Read the article)

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For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

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Where I Came From: Denver, CO

Why I’m A F.L.: To learn how to better serve God and the body of Christ.

Favorite Scripture and why (what you’ve been thinking about):
Psalms 27:14 Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.

Psalms 29:11 The LORD will give strength unto his people; the LORD will bless his people with peace.

Isaiah 26:3 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. 4 Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength:

These have been my favorite scriptures lately because there are so many things that are going on at the same time and I can get overwhelmed if my focus is on worldly things. These verses help me to slow down. I have no need to get worried or upset because God gives me the peace and the strength I need to accomplish all I need to do as long as my thoughts and my focus are centered around Him.

On a Bad Day, I:
On a bad day I start by trying to figure out why I am having a bad day. Sometimes just taking a moment to myself to analyze what is going on can go a long way to fixing the problem. Once the cause is identified, I try to do what I can to fix it. An example of this would be if someone had said something to me that hurt my feelings and I was dwelling on what they said. I would go find that person and talk to them to resolve the hurt feelings. Sometimes I am tired and can tend to be cranky. In a situation like that I do my best to pay attention to my attitude because no one else is responsible for my being tired. Other times there does not appear to be any reason why I am having a bad day. So I take some time to either read the Word or recite it to myself and build myself up. I have never had an instance where reading the Word didn�t make my day better.

Music style: Classic Rock

Ultimate Dinner Guests (If you could have a dinner party with three people, living or dead, who would they be):
Socrates, Michelangelo, Steven Tyler

Pet Peeves:
People who are parrots – meaning people that tend to just repeat things they have heard without looking into them to verify their validity. This can include gossip, but also includes opinions or viewpoints.
People who don’t clean up after themselves.
People who do not deal honestly with others.
Drivers who don’t use their turn signals.

What I Like (hobbies, secular passions): Playing the piano and doing artwork.

Thank you and I CAN’T WAIT to see you!

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Ok, actualy it’s www.fellowlaborers.org. If you type it in without the www, my server automatically adds the www.

Firstly, we should make separate login’s and passwords for at least you four, and possibly last year’s fellow laborers as well. That way each post will be correctly attributed to the it’s author.

Secondly, check the links at the bottom. Especially the Some Rights Reserved license. It’s a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 license and it’s the default license that I use on nearly everything. It basically allows for other people to do nearly anything they want with what you post on here as long as they credit the original author. If everybody likes that then great. There are some optional restrictions that can be added on to that license including a no-change restriction where they can copy it verbatim, but not make any edits themselves, and a noncommercial restriction where other people can’t sell it.

The other links are to the software that runs this site, to the designer of this template and one to my website.

At the right hand side, I renamed Uncategorized to General (you can put each post into categories such as Teachings, Life, General, etc.) I also added a link to CFF and a link to myself.

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