Sermon on Podcast

"Unified living", a sermon that was preached at Shades Mountain Baptist Church back in April is now available to hear on itunes. You can get to the sermon by clicking on this link and subscribing to crave ministries podcast. http://www.shades.org/206064.ihtml

JP

Here comes summer '07...

Well summer is pretty much here for me, as I start to finalize a summer camp schedule and begin to spend the whole month of May in spiritual perpetration and study. I have decided not to post the final summer schedule just yet because there are a few more possibilities still flying around. More than likely I will be speaking at 3 camps this summer that will be in Panama City Beach, Florida, Lake Charles, Louisiana, and Dallas, Texas. So 3 camps total which is 3 more than I thought I would have. I thought my first summer would be pretty quiet and looking to summer of 2008 for anything to happen, but yet again God amazes the human mind at any chance He can get, especially when it's all about His glory. And it is!

How can you be praying? Please, Please, Please; be praying for my time in preparation. I am a big believer in preparing like it's your first time to preach and preaching like it's your last time to preach. I put a lot of time into studying and desire God to not only speak to His people but also to me in the process. I would also ask that you pray for me in taking time to rest. I will confess that I am an all or nothing person, which I pay for in the end. Pray that I find times to rest when I can especially in between camps. I am still working at Starbucks in the mornings, which helps me cover expenses that I cannot otherwise. So to say that I need physical strength from the Lord is a huge prayer request for me, especially when waking up at 4am almost every day! I trust that you will spend less time praying for me and more time praying for God's spoken word and the lives He will impact with it. Once I post the final camp schedule I will be asking for specific prayer request for specific churches and cities. Thank you for your time, and thank you for you partnering with this ministry!

For His Namesake,
JP
www.johnpond.org

"Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change." James 1:16-17

Quick Update....

I say quick because the last 3 weeks have been insane and today is no exception. Even though it is Friday afternoon and I feel the living room couch and tv calling my name. But there is no time which is a good thing! I have been speaking a lot in the Birmingham area the past few weeks. Last Wednesday night April 4th, I had the chance to speak at FCA Wednesday morning at Vestavia Hills High School, at Shades Mountain Baptist that same night and then at another FCA meeting after that. So I have been fairly busy to say the least but I am glad that God has given me the opportunity to be so busy. I am in the process of putting a schedule together for the summer which will be on my website in the next few weeks. Please pray that God would continue to give me strength as the days get harder and harder and that I would remain humble in this time. Thank you for your prayers and your support!

For His Namesake,
John Pond

Reflections from A.W. Tozer

Water cannot rise above it's own level. Neither can a Christian rise above where they are in their walk with God. Think about it, how deep or shallow is your walk with the Lord? A constant reminder to the Christian is the reminder that it's not how we live our lives on Sunday, rather how do we live our lives on Monday. When it came time for Moses to share with the people of Israel it only happened when Moses came out of the tent where he met with the living God. Moses' ministry was not based on the shallow waters of him going out to speak on his own wisdom or passions. It was only after he had spent much time with the Father to deepen the waters of that relationship was he able to step out to speak to the people of Israel. If we are to preach, witness, or bear the image of our holy God, we must deepen the waters of our holiness through the grace of His son Jesus Christ. I'm not sure how many people actually read this blog which I guess is the risk you run when writing a blog in the first place. However, if you do read this blog, I challenge you to stop and think about this illustration. I also ask that you pray for me and all who preach God's word to keep the faith, persevere, and spend more time with the Lord than that of ministry.

For His Namesake,
John Pond

"In you, O Lord, do I take refuge!" - Psalm 31:1

Lots Goin On...

For those of you who have been praying for this ministry, thank you! The past few weeks have been very busy with much exciting news to talk about. First of all the new website went up, if you haven't seen it yet check it out at www.johnpond.org . I have also been busy speaking at local churches here in Birmingham and getting a schedule together for the summer that already includes a camp down in Panama City with First Baptist Birmingham. The rest of my time has been spent writing new sermons and spending time with the Lord and letting Him lead me with His grace and love. Please be praying for this ministry in the next few weeks, I will be speaking at Vestavia Hills High School at FCA club on Monday morning April 4th and then at Shades Mountain Baptist Church that night. Pray for God's leading and God's message to be spoken with clarity and passion. I have learned a lot over the past few months with this ministry but the most important thing is, is that the focus is never on the messenger but the message. I ask you to partner with me to continue to ask God that He would further His message of His grace and glory through solid teaching and solid theology.

For His Namesake,
John

"For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith --that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with ALL the fullness of God." - Ephesians 3:14-19

The Life of Jonathan Edwards

"Once as I rode out into woods for my health in 1737, having alighted from my horse in a retired place, as my manner commonly has been, to walk for divine contemplation and prayer, I had a view, that for me was extraordinary, of the glory of the Son of God, as Mediator between God and man, and his wonderful, great, full, pure and sweet grace and love and meek, gentle condescension..... which continued, as near as I can judge, about an hour; which kept me the greater part of the time in a flood of tears, and weeping aloud." J. Edwards

"He (J. Edwards) had an extraordinary love for the glory of God in nature. The good effects of this love on his capacity to delight in the greatness of God and on the imagery of his preaching were tremendous, Jonathan Edwards preached the way he did because of the man he was and the God he saw!" - John Piper

I pray that you and I would be gripped by the view of God as Edwards saw and expeirenced in his life on a daily basis!