The Deeper Life.  this is important…please read to the end.

Hard to believe it was 11 months ago we began our study of Paul's letter to the church at Rome.  At the start I admitted I felt a bit intimidated biting into the oh-so-meaty, theologically deep book of Romans, but oh, my goodness … what an experience it has been!  One hundred and twenty-one lessons later, we shall call it a wrap. However, please remember that all 121 writings are archived at www.pastor woman.com, free for the downloading, ready to be revisited by yourself or to share with someone else.  (choose ‘Powerful Bible Teaching’, then Morning Briefings, then scroll down to Romans…with one click, you see all of the titles, chronologically ordered)

Our journey actually began several years ago now, as we started with Jesus in the gospel of Luke, and then moved right into Acts, which is almost like Luke, part 2—written in the same style, with great attention to names and details, making its historicity quite verifiable!   Acts had it all!  From the passionate arrival of the Holy Spirit, to the growth of a small band of believers into a vibrant community who loved Jesus the Messiah and each other; there were miracles worked by the apostles, Jesus' radical life-altering visit to Paul, who became the first Christian missionary and church planter... Shipwrecks and stonings, but most of all, salvation!  

Since, we have followed Paul’s letters to the churches he established—1 and 2 Thessalonians, Galatians, 1 and 2 Corinthians, and of course, Romans.  These letters are the framework for our Christian doctrine, and teach us so much about living the Christian life.

Paul closed out his letter to the Romans stating his immediate plans to pay a visit to Jerusalem, and then travel on to Rome and even Spain—however, Paul’s best-laid plans do not come to fruition.  Paul will be arrested in Jerusalem … from prison, though, he writes … he writes a letter to the church at Philippi—and we will be with him, our beloved apostle. 

At this time, I am going to take a two-week break.  In these two weeks, I will be getting my sons ready to return to school—8^th grade and 11^th grade—and endeavoring to get Fellowship of Christian Athletes launched at our San Clemente High School.  Please pray for me in this endeavor.  [our fall kick-off will be a beach bonfire on Sunday, Sept. 11]   I have already started my Philippians preparation; I want to read the book of Hebrews, and spend more time in personal prayer. 

I have asked the Lord for a new vision for those who receive a word from me—

for >the global church who receives Morning Briefings, (these daily Bible studies),

for>the international company I pastor, and

for>Women of Passion, (local weekly women’s Bible study that I lead) . . .  and

I believe he has answered. 

For such a time as this, Fall, 2011 – God is calling us to The Deeper Life.  He is calling us—you and me—to be in his Word daily, and he is calling us to a deeper, greater life of prayer.

So besides reading your Morning Briefings on the book of Philippians, I invite you to please get a copy of Jim Cymbala’s masterful work on prayer, Breakthrough Prayer, Zondervan Publishing.  Can be ordered in paperback or MP3 or e-book:

http://www.christianbook.com/breakthrough-prayer-secret-receiving-need-from/jimcymbala/9780310255185/pd/25518X?item_code=WW&netp_id=316011&event=ESRCG&view=details

One day out of five, I will be incorporating lessons on prayer and things from Breakthrough Prayer.  Things like this:  “The world has yet to see a Christlike, victorious, and fruitful believer who was not a person of considerable prayer.”  (from the book)   The amazing stories of miraculous, life-changing prayer that Cymbala uses serve to make us bolder in prayer, and more excited to pray!  When you see God’s answers to the prayers of simple people---well, it is exciting, and you want to see things like that in your own life!

There is already a Facebook group called “Morning Briefings” that I invite you to join; there, you can interact with people from around the world on just what the call to The Deeper Life means to you and for you as you study Philippians, get excited about prayer, and the awesome God we serve. 

In these next couple weeks, I invite you to go to www.pastorwoman.com, and revisit lessons from Romans or any of the other Scriptures or topics listed under Powerful Bible Teaching—just stay in the Word, Friends!  I will be praying for you, and please, won’t you pray for me?

Christine