Christ The Cornerstone Romania - Way of Faith

Stronger than our enemy

2010-06-02T04:53:00.001-07:00

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A healthy Church 2 - Pastor Matthew K. Elliott

2010-04-29T02:52:00.001-07:00

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A healthy Church - Pastor Matthew K. Elliott

2010-04-29T01:41:00.000-07:00

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Help before Passover

2010-04-09T01:21:00.000-07:00

Before the Passover, our Church organized a humanitarian action, intended to help families with difficult financial situations, around the village of Tureni. We were able to provide 35 families from 5 different villages (Tureni, Comșești, Mărtinești, Ceanul Mic and Micești) with food supplies .

We were supported in this action by the mayor or Tureni, which pointed us towards the poor families, that had limited income or in some cases, none.

People were really surprised to see us at their gate carrying these packages, because some of them have never been helped before.

Our Church is working with people from the villages for 10 years now, having our ministry base in Micesti, and this humanitarian action has opened many doors for us to be able and show God's love in a more practical way. We met a lot of new people and established a relationship with them, which will help us in the future because we intend to go back and be a support for these people, both material and spiritual.

In the village of Ceanul Mic we found many people that were open to the word of God and we want to go back this summer and spend more time with these people.

On Thursday, we went to the Emergency Hospital for Children, Department of Clinical Pneumofitiziology where we gave the children hospitalized there sweets, so that we may bring at least a smile on their faces.

We really appreciate all the help we got from those that chose to give for the Kingdom of God. All praises be to Him that blessed us to be a blessing.

The story of a young man that used to be a priest in a Christian Monastery

2010-03-18T02:41:00.000-07:00

Eugen is a 26 year old young man, that chose to run away from home when he was only 18, and found refuge in a Christian Monastery, in Moldavia. For 3 years he served there and made progresses very quickly ending up by being called a priest. Every day he performed a 'divine service', without ever feeling any closeness towards God. In fact in all these years he never read the Bible. He never had a personal relationship with Jesus, neither was he concerned with this, because nobody ever encouraged him to do so. After these 3 years he ended up disappointed, because of those around him that were supposed to serve God and they were not living what they were preaching. After living this experience things started to go really bad for Eugen because his father didn't receive him back home and disinherited him. He ended up living on the streets, earning his living from selling drugs and doing all sorts of illegal stuff. I don't want to emphasize how bad things got for this young man but rather to tell you what God did in his life in 2 years, starting with an encounter Eugen had with a young Evangelist from our Church, Cristi Istrate. Cristi found Eugen on the street and invited him to a Church meeting. Eugen answered 'no, you have no idea who I am. I am an evil man ...' Cristi told him 'you are exactly the person Jesus is looking for'. He ended up going to that meeting and then Cristi spent a lot of time with him leading him to The Lord. Eugen didn't honor his decision but God didn't give up on him. For 2 years Cristi kept in touch with Eugen and has been a constant support for him. Two months ago, after wondering around the entire country, Eugen came back to Cluj, where he started to look for Cristi. He was ready to let go to his past and change everything. He started attending Church services every Sunday, constantly being discipeled by Cristi, that spent many, many hours trying to build up the Kingdom of heaven in Eugen. His heart became really sensitive to the things of God and he understood that he must fulfill what the Scripture is commanding and so he asked to be baptized. Sunday afternoon, together with all the Church and people from the village, we were honored to perform his baptism. After 2 days, Eugen said that now he feels really reconciled with God. His desire is to stay in Cluj (because he's from another city) find a job here and start a normal life, serving The Lord. He is aware that God will use all his past to reach other young people that are struggling and he already started to tell people around him abut the miracles that God did in his life.

Jesus said that we should go into all the world and make disciples, baptize them and equip them so that they may start bringing fruits of their own. This is our desire, to form disciples not to indoctrinate people and converting them to a religion.

We want to thank all those that have been close to us and supported us in everything we do. I want to thank the people from 'Way of Faith' Church that pray for this vision and believe for this vision. I want to thank my Pastors, Matt and Denise Elliott, for all their trust and faithfulness towards us. We all build the Church of Christ and His Kingdom, that will be revealed soon, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.

May God Bless you all
Servants of Jesus:

Pastor Călugăr Rareş şi Nicoleta

From darkness to light

2010-02-24T02:43:00.000-08:00

The night always leaves people with a feeling of insecurity, especially when there is no source of light, when you can't see anything but darkness.
In moments like that you have o idea where you're stepping, what you're heading towards - you trust only what you can touch and fear covers you.

Imagine what would it be like to live like that, not only for one night, but covered in thick darkness years and maybe even forever...
Most certainly those would be some terrible years, having no purpose.

Did you know that is life without Christ?

When you don't have Him, you're confused, you live in fear, you hurt yourself with the things you bump in to because you can't see.

Something else that you must realize is that this darkness is brought about by Satan, because he wants to destroy you, to make you feel paralysed and in the end, end your life, because you lack the ability to find purpose and meaning in life.
The only way you can escape this situation is by realizing you need Light so that you can see clearly, to know where you're going, to feel the safety and the warmth that the Light brings.
Jesus is the Light that you need in your life.

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." - John 8:12

You don't have to live in darkness anymore, now you can step in to the Light! The apostle Paul got this calling from Jesus:
I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.' Acts 26:17-18

Jesus wants to forgive your sins and set you free from the devil's grip, so that you may become a child of God, enjoying freedom and Light.
All you must do is pray a prayer like the following:
Lord Jesus, I confess that I've lived in darkness and in sin, I proclaim that I want to be Yours and to let You be my Savior, my Lord, and the Light that will light my life. From now on I will pray knowing that you can light me and lead me through this life.
Please forgive me for every mistake and bad deed that I've made in darkness.
From now on I want to be only Yours and follow only You. Amen.

Now that you've prayed this prayer, Jesus Christ has come in to your life and forgave your sins. From today on your life will have purpose and you will have the Light you were begging for together with the inheritance of eternal life.
Whatever your circumstances will be from now on try not to forget what the book of Psalms says about God:
"even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. " Psalm 139:12

From today on you don't have to live in fear, dare to step firmly, to keep going on this Way filled with Light.

Cristian Istrate - Evangelist

The Baptism of a born again Orthodox Christian

2010-01-20T00:28:00.000-08:00

Sunday, the 10th of January 2010, I had the privilege to baptize a born again Orthodox Christian. Rareș Rus, is a 26 year old young man that has been seeking The Lord having a relationship with Him ever since he was a child, his father being a deacon in an Orthodox Church in a quarter of Cluj. This inclination towards the spiritual things made it so that Satan stepped into his life fully aware that God has a plan with this man. Evil spirits began to manifest in his life through nightmares during the night, suicidal thoughts, sleepless nights, many days of torment and depression. All that didn’t happen by itself, but it was brought about by people that spoke many curses over his life, and Satan, having found an open door, went in and tried to destroy him, as he did with most of us before we chose to follow Christ. But when God has a plan with someone nothing and nobody can stand against it.

Three months ago, we organized in our Church a concert together with a Christian Band called Acces. Corneliu, a member of our Church and a friend since childhood with Rares, invited him, and starting with that point began a time of restoration for Rares. Every Sunday morning Rares was attending the services with a strong desire to be helped to fight against the spirits that were trying to control him. After many prayers and fasting, Rares has been set free. He accepted Christ’s dominion over his life and decided to fulfill everything that is written by accepting the New Testament baptism as well. As you probably know, our Church’s vision is to see born again Orthodox believers that come to know all the truth and are in need of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, being baptized and equipped so that in time they can witness to their family, friends and people around them.

In Romania there are millions of Orthodox believers that need to be born again and our desire is to get to their hearts by creating a bridge between us and them. We believe that love can break doctrines, religiosity and pride on both sides. We all have sinned and fall short of His glory in the eyes of God, but Christ has paid the price for that. We all need His grace and a fresh revelation of what He represents for our lives.

If you are an orthodox believer and you are looking for a place where to worship together with other Christians, a place where you wouldn’t feel judged because your way of worshiping is different, or that your payers are not spiritual enough, or that you still struggle with sin in your life, then please join us Sunday mornings starting with 10:00, to experience God’s acceptance through Jesus Christ and acceptance from the people that you’ll find here. Don’t be embarrassed if you feel in your heart that you are not convinced whether to believe in God or not, if you are still searching, just know that we are here to help you. We are not here to change you so that you become like us, but we want to help you to become like Christ.

Pastor Rareș Călugăr

Acces - Romanian Christian Band needs help to record their first album

2010-01-12T07:13:00.000-08:00

Hello dear friends,

We are posting this entry as a support for a Romanian Christian Band that needs all the help it can get to record their first album. The reason we are behind this project 100% is because we saw God changing people through their music in our Church.
Last year we organized a concert together and as a result God changed a young man's life. His name is Rares Rus, and we baptized him last Sunday. We really believe that he is a result of this band's effort to touch people's lives through music, and they are an amazing blessing to us. That is why we encourage you to bless them and help them record this album. You will be rewarded in heaven for every teenager that will be off the streets because of this band that uses music as an evangelistic tool, a tool that we've seen working.
Thank you!

2009-2010

2010-01-05T04:01:00.000-08:00

We are truly happy to say that God was so good to the believers of ”Way of Faith” Church, in 2009. We saw many analysis about this past year, but all we can say is that God did amazing things in us and through us in 2009. We have been rebuked, we have been encouraged, we have been dazzled and blessed by God through His Word, through prayers, through, unity, through music, through each brother and sister in our Church.
We really don't want to overspiritualise when we say all these things,, all we want is that the people who are interested in this blog and in what God is doing in our Church, should know that He started a work in us and He is the One that will finish it. We just can't wait to see what God will do in 2010 in our midst.

Before the end of 2009 we had a french brother that had a really good message that blessed us a lot and we want to share that with you. Be blessed!

Jean Francois Gotte - Needing the Holy Spirit / Nevoia de Duh Sfant
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Are you sharing the Gospel?

2009-12-02T03:35:00.000-08:00

It is sometimes hard to talk to strangers and even harder to talk to members of the family about our faith. It truly can be a difficult thing but I want to ask this question,
Are you sharing the Gospel? Or…..are you making excuses? We do often make excuses about why we cannot live up to our expectations or the expectations of others, but I want to clear up some things, mainly, that we are called to share the good news of Jesus Christ.

One enormous problem is in our misunderstanding of exactly what we are supposed to do as Christians. We either have such high expectations of ourselves that we never do anything because we know we will fail. Who gives us these high expectations? Sometimes we get these unreasonable expectations from priests, pastors or teachers. Sometimes we get these expectations from parents or other relatives and it causes us to live in fear of always failing God and other people. We can withdraw and resign ourselves to simply living the bare minimum life so we won’t let people down. The worst part of this is that we believe these things and so we have unreasonable expectations of ourselves and we can constantly condemn ourselves. Anytime we fail, we simply say, “see, it is true, I cannot succeed as a good Christian, I cannot please God with a holy life.”
Let me tell you that these super high expectations are not from God. We cannot live perfect lives and HE knows this. We need to allow the Holy Spirit to guide us and to judge us but we often choose to judge ourselves and to punish ourselves. It is wrong for us to try and prove that we are sinners and worthy of suffering and judgment. Christ came that we might have life, and have it more abundantly, John 10:10. Christ came to seek and to SAVE the lost, Luke 19:10. Christ came that we might be free from sin, Romans 6:18, 22. The spirit of Jesus is with us to lead us to truth, John 15:16-18 & 16:13 We are sealed with His spirit unto the day of salvation , Ephesians 4:13. It is God at work in us to will and to do of His good pleasure, Philippians 2:13
If we depend on our strength, we will not succeed. If we trust in the Lord, then we can succeed. God expects us to grow, day by day, little by little, and to work on the weak areas of our lives.
Let me tell you that Biserica Calea Credintei is a safe place for you to grow and mature. You will make mistakes, as we all do, but as we work together, you will see that our expectations are not unreasonable for you but we believe that with God all things are possible and it is He that is at work in each of His disciples. We cannot form you into our image, but we all work together to be more like Christ and to live in His image.
There is another danger to have unreasonable expectations, and that is to strive so hard that you begin to believe you have earned special rights or privileges with God and His people. You may feel worthy to condemn others and to preach a hard, mean Gospel (which is NOT the good news of Jesus Christ). Some say, “My church is the best, we have the best music, best preaching, etc.”. This is not our jobs as Christians.
Just as we are not supposed to live in fear, condemnation and constant punishment of ourselves, we are not supposed to live in pride, condemning others and trying to punish them for not working as hard as we feel we have worked. Life is hard for everyone and we need to work together, help each other, and to live in peace and love.
At “Calea Credintei” Church, we are not about condemning others or trying to find fault and blame, but to seriously work at being better disciples of Christ.
My question then is, are you sharing the Gospel? Or…..are you making excuses? Maybe you are saying, I am not good enough (not true, Christ makes us good enough by His goodness). You do not have to keep living to prove you are a Christian, if you just know that you are and live to please God. His goodness becomes our goodness, even when we do not do things that are good and right.

Maybe you say, I don’t know enough (not true, if you know that Christ forgave your sins, washed you clean and made you a new person, then you know enough). You do not have to preach every time you share the love of God, just gently let people know where you stand in your relationship with the Lord. You can do this in public, at work, in school, on the bus, or wherever you are. You can smile and say kind words, say thank the Lord, and so on. When the time is right, open a discussion on how Jesus has changed your life.

Maybe you say, I cannot speak well, I get tongue-tied (probably not true, because we talk about anything we WANT to talk about – the weather, sports, gossip, politics, problems, and complaints). Do we want to talk about Jesus? We should WANT to talk about Him. If your attitude is one of the main problems, then work on changing your attitude toward people and ask the Lord to give you a love for them.

Sharing the Gospel is as easy as talking about anything else. Sometimes you share by living right and speaking about God when the time is right. Sometimes you share by doing a good thing for someone. Sometimes by inviting them to church or sending them a link to this blog via e-mail. And, sometimes you need to share the full gospel and Christ’s love and redemption and the need to escape from the wrath of God and eternal punishment.

Please understand, Biserica “Calea Credintei” is a safe place for you to learn truth, grow and mature and to learn how to help others in need.
God bless you richly and continue to grow into His likeness.

Pastor Matt Elliott

Bruce Koen - Called to serve

2009-11-17T04:25:00.000-08:00

Bruce Koen - Called to serve - Chemat sa slujesti
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Thanksgiving

2009-10-29T02:42:00.000-07:00

Sunday, the 30Th of October, our Church celebrated a sort of a Thanksgiving day, in Micesti. On Thursday we went through the village to invite people to come to the Church and we challenged them to bring a vegetable or a fruit that they are really proud of and then we awarded them on Sunday.
People in the village really understand what it means to depend on God's goodness in order to have a harvest, that is why we chose to celebrate this day in Micesti and thank God together for everything and acknowledge that all we have is from Him.

Dream!

2009-09-25T02:16:00.000-07:00

Do you come from a dysfunctional family? One of the most famous characters from the Bible came from a very unhappy family.

Joseph was the 11^Th son of the 12 sons of Jacob. No one in this family was happy. Jacob’s wives Leah, Rachel and the maidservants Zilpah and Bilhah were always disputing with one another.

Furthermore Joseph was Jacob’s favorite son and his brothers hated him. Jacob gave him a colored coat which just to make matters worse – Joseph wore.

When he was 17 years old, he had two dreams you can find in Gen. 37:7 and 9.

The brothers could not bear the thought that one day they would bow down to Joseph. But God had a purpose in these dreams.

The important dreams that we have are not dreams about riches, fast cars, beautiful cloths, etc. The important dreams are the dreams of destiny – Dreams about life as it was intended to be lived – Dreams about fulfilling God’s purpose in our life. Dreams about making the world a better place through God’s love.

These dreams cannot be pushed aside or destroyed. The enemy has no power to push aside your dream. The enemy may try to persuade you but he cannot destroy a dream of destiny.

The enemy can interfere with the circumstances of your life, but he cannot shape you. Although people may die dreams of destiny will be fulfilled. Martin Luther King, the American civil rights campaigner, had a dream. He died but the dream lives on.

Joseph’s brothers grabbed him when he came to see them at Dothan, they put him in a pit in order to sell him.

But Joseph although he did not understand his dreams, at the time, knew he had heard God.

The question arises what do you do when you heard God but nothing is happening. What do you do when you are in a ‘pit’ – your brothers are having a meal and about to sell you?

1. When you are in the pit, throw away the shovel! Be holly surrendered to God. Trust God, do not panic. Submit to Him. Give everything over to Him.

2. Joseph heard his brothers arranging a sale price with the Midianite traders. Do not let the culture of the day, establish your value. You are worth more than anything the world has to offer. Jesus gave everything for you – He paid the full price for you.

3. Even though you are in the pit and what God said is not happening – believe that you have a future!

In Chapter 39 when Joseph was a slave in Potiphar’s house, he knew that although he was a slave, he was also a man of destiny. He determined to live like that. He would have nothing to do with Potiphar’s wife when she tried to seduce him – he was a man with a dream and a vision and the enemy was not going to destroy him. Joseph although living in Potiphar's house lived in a place of grace. Potiphar’s house was blessed because of Joseph. By our presence we can make the office, factory, university, be a better place. Whether in the pit, in Potiphar’s house, in prison, or in the palace, Joseph reigned in life.

For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ. Romans 5:17

We too, whatever our circumstances , can dream dreams of destiny and reign in life through our Savior Jesus Christ.

Message preached in our Church

Sunday, 20Th of September

By John Patman

2009-08-20T04:34:00.000-07:00

Saturday, the 15Th of August, our Church had it's first wedding and it was an honor due to the fact that the bride is a very dear sister of ours so we "adopted" the groom immediately.
Raluca Murăşan and Sandu Petcu united their destinies before The Lord and before us and we blessed them and wish them all the best that a couple can have in this life.
It was a simple and very beautiful wedding and we are really happy for them. May God bless them and keep them close to each other and close to Him.

What is stopping us from using our Talent?

2009-07-08T00:51:00.000-07:00

„On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable“ (1 Corinthians 12:22)

(Matthew 25:14-15 -28) "Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey.“
When God is calling you to serve Him, He gives you a talent and by that He is entrusting to you something that He values. It is up to you how much you will do with the things that He values, and how much you will value it. God gives everyone according to his/her capacity. He doesn't give you more than you can take, but He gives you more than you can imagine.
God doesn't give you a talent considering your current state of being or your abilities. He gives you things due to what you are in the Spirit and what you can accomplish.
When God called Gideon to save the people from the hands of Madianites, he wasn't called because he was something in the natural things.
'But Lord, " Gideon asked, "how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family." - Judges 6:15
'Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon...' - Judges 6:34
Things that can stop us from using our talent:
- we consider ourselves unworthy to be used by God
„Then Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly: "We had to speak the word of God to you first. Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles.“ (Acts 13:46)
- we see ourselves week, and lacking power when we are faced with a challenge
(1 Timothy 1:12) „I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me faithful, appointing me to his service.“
(2 Corinthians 12:9) „But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.“
- we don't try to understand the gift that God has placed in us
- we don't seek to know whether it's true or not the words that other people speak in our lives (we don't ask God to confirm it to us if the prophecies that we receive are right and if so to help us understand the time of those prophetic words) - maybe we just blame prophets for not being accurate, but we never bother to know if it's true or not and if it is to fulfill it
(1 Timothy 1:18)„Timothy, my son, I give you this instruction in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by following them you may fight the good fight'
- maybe we end up saying 'I am too young, or too unprepared, or now it's not the right time'
(1 Timothy 4:12) „Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.'
- we are careless when it comes to the call of God for our life
- we don't see the significance and importance of the gift that God gave us
- we can't value correctly the gift of the Spirit
(1 Timothy 4:14)”Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through a prophetic message when the body of elders laid their hands on you.'
- we take it easy concerning the gifts and due to the fact that we don't value them enough there is a lack of discipline
- we don't evaluate ourselves constantly to see where we stand with God, we can't be open neither to critics or to encouragements
(1Timothy 4:15- 16) „Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.'
- we don't invest our talent (we don't grow in using our gift)
- Lacking enthusiasm
- fear of failure, fear of men
(2 Timothy 1:6-7) „For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.'
- we don't protect these gifts and we allow Satan to steal them from us
- we are not faithful with the things which have been entrusted to us
- we are easily distracted by things that are good in appearance or things that other people think are successful
- we are not careful enough with the way we speak, our attitude isn't always right
(1 Timothy 6:20) „Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your care. Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge'
(2 Timothy 1:14) „Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you-guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us. “
(1 Timothy 6:11-12) „But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

Pastor Rareș Călugăr

2009-07-08T00:31:00.000-07:00

Sunday we had a concert premiere by a Christian Band called Acces (Access). We were really touched by the meaningful lyrics, the talent and the modesty of these guys. But more than what one could see on the outside, we all felt the presence of God among us. The title of the album is RĂSPUNS (answer).
Those of us that hared it truly believe that God can use these songs to restore the hearts of many young people that struggle.
As a Church, we were really honored to have among us God from within them.
May God bless them and use them to build up The Body of Christ.

Source of Life

2009-07-01T03:23:00.000-07:00

(Isaiah 53:11) „After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied ; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. “

(Romans 5:2) „By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”

The fact that we are into grace has to do with the source from where we get your life in the Spirit. In Isaiah we are told that Christ will see his offspring and rejoice. When we drink from this eternal spring, which Jesus is, then we are promised water even in the desert places. „And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.“ (Isaiah 58:11)

David was praying in Psalm 63: „O God, thou [art] my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirst for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is.“ Does our soul really thirsts for this spring of water, for the freshness of this water that Jesus promised to those that ask for it?

The thing is that we spend too much time in the desert and we allow Satan to steal all our joy and our attitude is always controlled by the circumstances that we're in and it seems like nothing quenches our thirst.

There was a man that found himself lost in the desert and got to the end of his strength. Without any source of water he was quickly fading away. At some point he started hallucinating and couldn't think straight anymore. Then he sees an oasis. He thinks it's just an illusion because he can't think straight anymore. He falls down, almost dead next to the water where he was found and saved.

I hear Christians complaining about being in a spiritual desert and they can't seem to find their way out. Jesus said 'He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit.' So my way out of the desert is in Him as well, because He promised that He will be with us through His Spirit. 'The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those that be planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing; To shew that the LORD [is] upright: [he is] my rock, and [there is] no unrighteousness in him. (Psalms 92:12-15)

In John 4, Jesus speaks to the Samaritan woman about the source of life, let's see what we can learn from these verses:

- You must know the One that is able to give you the Water of Life and you must ask for it yourself „Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.' (John 4:10)

– Many times unbelief brings in our lives drought, uncertainty, feeling panic and not trusting the very source that gives us the water. 'The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water?' (John 4:11)

– Maybe we wonder 'is God greater than my past, my wounds and the mistakes I've made?' We can't seem to trust the fact that God really did wipe away all our sin, our past and that He gave us a new beginning through Christ. „Art thou greater than our father Jacob,....” (John 4:12)

– If you keep drinking from the same source (of unbelief, what you see in the natural) you will have the same result, you'll always be thirsty and unfulfilled, maybe even blame God for the state you're in and because you don't feel refreshed. Search for the true source of the living water. 'Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again' (John4:13)

– If you drink from Him, you will never thirst again and even those around you will benefit from this water. 'But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.' (John 4:14)

- The reason behind our desire to find God can be a wrong one. Do we want His water for our comfort or for itself? Do we want more of Him so that we could have a revelation for ourselves or do we want Him for others as well? Often times we focus all our attention on ourselves (on how hurt we feel, the way we feel in general) . We always look for our own comfort, we feel sorry for ourselves and we forget to just get up and be a blessing for others. 'The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw' (John 4:15)

Jeremiah 15:18-19 says ' Why is my pain perpetual, and my wound incurable, [which] refuseth to be healed? wilt thou be altogether unto me as a liar, [and as] waters [that] fail? Therefore thus saith the LORD, If thou return, then will I bring thee again, [and] thou shalt stand before me: and if thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth: let them return unto thee; but return not thou unto them.'

Is our hope placed in a lie or something that fails us? Is God playing with our feelings, with our future and our emotions? Does God want me to be one day on top of the mountain and the next day down in the pit?

NO. He wants me to have an emotional balance. He wants good things for me, He wants to give me peace and joy through the Holy Spirit, He wants me to be fulfilled and have a sane mind so that I may glorify Him. This is a hope that doesn't fail me, so I can trust Him with all my heart.

Servant of Jesus

Pastor Călugăr Rareş

UNITY AND TEAM WORK Seminary

2009-06-30T00:42:00.000-07:00

The "Way of Faith" Church, organized on the 20Th of June, a Seminary about 'Unity and Team Work'. We invited Pastors and leaders from different Churches in Romania, from Cluj, Deva, Turda and Germany.

The speakers focused on the theme of the Seminary, and we believe that both through The Word that was shared as through the fellowship that we had, God brought us even closer in Unity with each other.

Pastor Rareş Călugăr, shared with us what God has revealed to him about this, from 1 Kings 5:5-6. For the building of the Temple, Solomon, has asked for help from the Sidonians because they were more skilled in felling timber. To build The Body of Christ, we also need to recognize when other ministries are more skilled than us in certain areas, and due to that recognition we should humble ourselves and ask for help, because we are building together The Kingdom of God and not our own ministry.

The "Petra" Church, from Cluj, encouraged us to live victorious in The Body of Christ and pray for this nation day and night.

Dirk Weits, a Belgian missionary that serves The Lord in Deva, Romania, shared how he feels that we should focus more on the things that unite us rather than those that separate us. We should stay in the Word of God and trust The Holy Spirit to reveal that Word to us.

Elmar Drossler, German missionary, spoke about the way he feels that Churches should be a standard of morality in the world. He also shared the way he feels that God has called him to build bridges between the different ministries.

Pastor Helmuth Schuller, from "Emanuel" Church in Turda, shared with us what he felt God spoke to him through all the other speakers and encouraged us to walk in the things we have hared.

Finally, Ionel Sauciuc, coordinator of a network of Independent Churches, in our area, talked about the way Christians are like soldiers and if they want to please their commanding officer, they don't get involved with civilian affairs. We should stay pure in an impure world and represent God especially through Unity.

We have been encouraged and built up, ready to move forward, to rejoice in the things that unite us and show love when it comes to the things that separate us.

The key to success

2009-06-18T02:56:00.000-07:00

Today we are overwhelmed by all kinds of recipes for success and books about success and how to have success. All these, talk about men and women that are successful in the eyes of people. This kind of success is measured in numbers, in how much money you got, the car you drive or the house you own, the studies and the job you have, or how well known you are to people. Is that the standard according to which a Christian's success should be measured? Or better yet, can you really measure your success here on earth? If this life is all you're living for, then yes, but if you live your life for eternity, then no. Your success will be truly known only when you will be facing your Creator.
The people that don't have a personal relationship with Jesus, they are looking for success in the things that will not last, and likely they will find it, but that's all that their life will be, a chase after things that can't really fulfill you.
We have the recipe that works for a life of fulfillment. Jesus said 'So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.' Matthew 6:31-34
Jesus is showing us the right motivation for this life. He is telling us what we should be focusing on. If what we're looking for is to be fulfilled in Christ and have peace with God, then our search should be around one thing alone, which is the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. If my main concern is to know the will of God for my life and where He wants me to be, then all things will work together for my good and He will take care of my every need. All decisions you take should be based on what God wants from you. First of all you have to be committed to a local church, to feel connected to that body and be under a spiritual authority. Then, together with your pastor you should try and find God's call for your life. You must see the gifts that were given to you and you must learn how to use them to bless others. Your entire life must circle around this call. When you are faced with a choice, the first thing you must ask yourself is if the plans you are about to make are according to His word and your call. If you do that then you will be a balanced person, you will not be leaded by your emotions nor your circumstances, but all the decisions you'll take will be blessed by God. More so, you will see God's favor in your life, and His blessing both spiritual and material. You will have peace in your heart and God will lead your every step. My advice to you is seek His face first.
If you're not married yet and maybe you long to have a family, focus on being fulfilled in Christ first. If you are already marred and you want a good future for you and your family, seek to understand what God wants from you first. If you have a specific need (a healing, or financial blessing) don't focus all your attention on the problem or on the need you have, seek His face . Your answer might come from the last place you can imagine, but it won't matter because God will help you due to the fact that you are in His will and you seek His kingdom first. Why should you waste precious time focusing on your need, when you can be used by Him?
When I was 21, I chose to put my life in His hands, and i made a deal with God. I told Him 'God I will do you will and seek your face and kingdom first, but you have to take care of me and my family.' It's bee 8 years since then, and God has been more than faithful. I want to continue to live my life according to this principle. Jesus said 'Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.' Matthew 11:28-30
Jesus is making a deal with us. He wants us to trade your burden and worries for his peace and rest. All that a man is looking fr in this life is to be happy and fulfilled. But looking for this you end up chasing ghosts our entire life and getting utterly tired of everything. If you will seek His Kingdom first, you will find rest for your soul. Live according to this, and want to be pleasing to God more than you want to be pleasing to people. Success in the eyes of people doesn't compare with success in the eyes of God.

Servant of Jesus
Pastor Călugăr Rareş

Live according to the call God has for your life

2009-06-02T03:36:00.001-07:00

Do we live according to the call God has for us through Jesus Christ?

Paul was praying for the Ephesians : 'I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength.' - Ephesians 1:17-19

What is our attitude towards the things we have to go through every day, or the different circumstances that we face? Do we have a living hope in a living God? Or are we just barelly surviving without any hope?

You and I are not alone in this battle. We have a Spirit of wisdom and we have a divine revelation of what every trial and every situation means and does in our life. We are not lead by fear, nor hopelessness, nor bad news, because we know The Light and we tasted God and saw that He's good, so we know that God's strength itself works within us. That is the reason why I want to encourage you to see yourself through the eyes of God and live according to the call you have, meaning to live a holy life. Why should you be satisfied with the scraps that fall off the table of those that live by the Spirit? Why should you just be a spectator to other people's Christianity? Why would you be happy to sit aside and live by your emotions and just listen to nice stories of people that have great experiences with The Lord, when God Himself calls you to all the riches of his grace that you inherited through Jesus?

1 Peter 2:9

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

God chose you, paid a price for your life, took you out of the darkness, and He did all that for the sole purpose of enabling you to declare His praises, and the power of His Kingdom. But in order to get there, you must start living with great expectations. Be confident in that which He placed within you through the Holy Spirit, and choose to live as a conqueror not a victim of your circumstances.

2 Peter 1:1-12

Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours: Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins. Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have.'

You have received a faith of untold value and you too have all of God's tools, and that's why you too can live a life filled with spiritual riches, at the level that God has called you to live through the Holy Spirit. God did His part. So now, if we realize the great price He paid for our lives, and the wonderful things He prepared for us through Jesus, then we will do our best to do all those things that Peter points out.

Paul, is telling the Ephesians to stop living like pegans do and 'with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.' - Ephesians 4:22-24

That's where God wants us to be. In the place where our minds can be made new and have within itself the mind of Christ. Then we will not be lazy nor lacking fruits. Today I want to dare you to raise up to the level God wants you to live. Not in a mediocre kind of life, not being a Sunday morning Christian, not living someone else's convictions, but having a true relationship with a Holy and Faithful God.

„For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.“ (2 Corinthians 10:3-5)

Servant of Jesus

Pastor Rares Calugar

2009-05-26T00:59:00.000-07:00

Friday, the 22nd of May, came in to the world a really beautiful baby boy, named Lucas Eliot Calugăr, the son of Rares and Nicoleta Calugăr, our Pastors.
May he grow in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.

Authentic Christianity

2009-05-12T05:09:00.000-07:00

The word authentic, means = worthy of acceptance or belief as conforming to or based on fact, conforming to an original so as to reproduce essential features, made or done the same way as an original, not false or imitation, real, actual, genuine, being actually and exactly what is claimed, authentic implies being fully trustworthy as according with fact, it can also stress painstaking or faithful imitation of an original.
Is your Christianity according to Biblical truth? Do you live something real, something that comes from your every day experience with God? Or is your Christianity something dictated by others, something unnatural, false, a Christianity that lacks essence?
When David wanted to fight Goliath, Saul dressed him up with his heavy armor and his sword, but David couldn't move with those on. The same thing happens when others try to teach you "their way of fighting' and try to 'dress us up' with new rules and tactics, that for sure work in their case, but is useless in our case and to our relatioship with God. David had a good and strong relatoship with God, a relationship built in intimacy, siplicity, and he was aware of what God can do for him, that's why he didn't need Saul's war strategy nor the tools that Saul used and were helpful to him.
A good example for my point, are vegetables. There are vegetables that are grown in a very natural way, without adding anything to them, but most vegetables are grown with all kinds of chemical compounds that makes them look incredible. The ones that are 'forced' to grow look really good on the outside, but have no taste. It's the same with many Christians today.
We look good on the outside, we show what people want to see, and that's all we care about, but sadly we have no taste. Jesus was telling his disciples:
"Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savor, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men." Matthew 5:13
What do we look like on the inside? What do we taste like? Are we just "good looking" Christians that have a certain charisma? Are we the kind of Christians that try to sell a 'a good product' which is Jesus?
What is the fragrance we spread around us? Is it the holy perfume of Christ, or is it a man made perfume?
The 21st Century Church has created it's own perfume, it's own look, a good image, but sadly, lacking any real taste.
What kind of vegetable or fruit would you prefer? One that looks good but has no taste, or one that doesn't look that great but has a great taste? I prefer the second choice. But those kind of fruits and vegetable can't really be found in our supermarkets, much like you can't find real Christians in our Super Churches. Due to our desire to look 'spiritual' (of course to look spiritual in the Church, because we don't want to seem fanatics to the people in the world) we jump major steps in our Christianity. Our every day life doesn't reflect the image of Christ. If you would be named the ambassador of Romania in America, you wouldn't behave in a sloppy manner, now would you? I don't think so. You know why? Because you would have a boss that would fire you for misrepresenting an entire nation. It's sad that we, as ambassadors of God's kingdom on earth, don't really care about the impression we give to the people in the world, and even worse, we don't fear (respect) our 'boss'. I am tired of empty words made up to seem spiritual, words that are not followed by action and a fake living compared to what you pretend you are when you go to Church. If I wouldn't be a Christian, I wouldn't want this kind of Christianity. The essence of Christianity is proved in our every day living.
When Jesus talks about the salt of the earth, he addresses a question that we should ask ourselves as well. If the salt will lose it's taste, how will it ever recover that attribute? How can we get recover our flavor and the strength to be salt again for those around us? We find a little bit of the answer in John 15. If we remain in Him and if His words remain in us, we will bring forth fruit, because apart from Him we can do nothing. He is the vine, we are the branches. Our life comes from being in the vine. It's from Him that we get our taste. You don't have o try to hard, it's not something you force to happen, it's a natural flow that comes from the surse, which is Jesus, and it flows towards the others. I want to dare you to discover the simplicity of the authentic Christianity, just the way the first Christians lived it in Antioch, a plesant perfume that spreaded from Christ to others, and it's the same perfume that got you as well.
'Whose adorning let it not be that outward [adorning] of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; But [let it be] the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, [even the ornament] of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.' 1 Peter 3:3-4
Treasure the intimacy you have with Christ, be transformed by Him, and don't jump over major steps that are crucial in knowing Him. Christianity is not a race, it's a marathon.

Servant of Jesus
Pastor Rareș Călugăr

Payer for the Church

2009-05-05T06:51:00.000-07:00

Some time ago, God spoke to our Pastor, about having a time of fasting, all throughout the month of May, starting Friday evening and ending Saturday evening.
We've been challenged to seek God's face and pick an hour, during this time, when to pray for our Church. Everyone of us chose to give up on something they love doing and that would be the thing they're fasting from. For instance, some chose to fast from food, others by not watching TV, others computer, others thoughts, and so on.
Last week was the first time we did this as a Church, and we all felt the benefits, not only during the sermon, but during the praise and worship, during prayer and not least in our relationships with one another.
Here are some of the things we bring before the Lord:

- To see born again Orthodox Christians in Cluj and in Romania

- For our loved ones that we want to see saved

- For disciples, not multitudes that are just amazed by miracles. For people that we can invest in, like Paul did with Timothy.

- At least one baptism in our Church this year

- Healthy relationships and unity between the people that come to the Church

- Emotional healing and spiritual restoration

- Church services that honor Jesus and allow the Holy Spirit to be present

- For every message that we hear each Sunday, to be inspired by the Holy Spirit that would bring lasting fruit in the lives of those that listen to it

- For spiritual growth and maturity in our relationship with God

We know that we ask these things for God's glory and not for our own vanity, we come before Him not in our own merits but in The mighty Name of Jesus and so we have every right to believe that the things we are asking for will be given to us.

Amen.

For those of you that decided to pray for the Church, here's a schedule for 8Th/9Th of May. Try to also bring before the Lord the person that is after you and try to encourage him/her by sending a text message or an e-mail, or however God is leading you.
May God bless you all and strengthen your faith.

Philippians 4:6
Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

Passover in Romania

2009-04-23T02:00:00.000-07:00

We hope that you all had a meaningful and blessed Passover.

We had a really special week. Wednesday, 15^Th of April, we went to Micesti, where we invited people to a special Passover service.

Friday evening we organized a different program, where we had The Lord’s Supper, had a great fellowship with one another and with our Lord.

Sunday morning, we had a service in the honor of our Saviour’s Resurrection and we were truly blessed by a message from our Pastor, Rares Calugar.

Monday morning, we had a special service in Micesti, and to our surprise, many Orthodox Christians came. We heard a message from a good friend of our Church, Elmar Drössler.

We hope that what God did in us and through us in this time, will bring lasting fruit, that will be praising to Him.

Be blessed

2009-04-10T03:06:00.000-07:00

Luke 19: 29 – 46 - The triumphal entry of Jesus in Jerusalem

The Greek Orthodox Christians, are celebrating this Sunday, the "Palm tree Sunday', meaning Jesus entering Jerusalem one week before the Resurrection.
The sad part is, that we stop at these events and and we don't really talk about what happened after Jesus entered Jerusalem.
His concern was that Jerusalem lost the things that gave peace to it, and made God's worship place, meaning the Temple, a den of robbers. God showed me in this passage some things that deal with the Church today, the attitude that people have when coming to Church and the fact that we turned our gatherings in to a sort of a club that is really good with offering services to it's attendants. Let us go back to the times of Moses, and see the purpose and the significance of the Tabernacle, for the people of Israel. It use to be a holy place and God was present there. People were aware of the fact that they couldn't just approach God without preparing first, both the outside and the inside. They knew they were approaching a Holy God. If we move a bit further and take a look at Solomon's Temple, the first thing that should come to our mind is that the construction of the Temple, wasn't God's idea, but David's.
„Wherever I have moved with all the Israelites, did I ever say to any of their rulers whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, "Why have you not built me a house of cedar?"
(2 Samuel 7:7). While David lived in a palace, he saw all the riches he was enjoying and thought it's not fair for the Holy Ark (Which was the presence of God) to be in a tent. And David said "I will build Him a Temple".
God desired for His presence to be among His people. He wanted a tent because it was movable, and wherever the children of Israel went they could take it with them. That means they were able to have God's presence with them at all times. Putting together the Tabernacle took less than a year, while the building of the first Temple took 7 years (1 Kings 6:38) and the second Temple took 46 years to be built (John 2:20).
Can you see how people complicated things out of their desire to do something for God? Getting back to present time, what is the Church today? Better yet, what was the will of Jesus for His Bride? Jesus said that wherever 2 or 3 are gathered in His Name, He is with them. We turned the Church, that was meant to be a living organism (First Christians) in to a living organization. If on the time of Moses there was a tabernacle, since Solomon and up to Jesus time, there was a Temple. After Jesus went to heaven, He left a Church that was meant to be a living body, but what we have today is a "Church Club". We have activities on top of more activities, we have businesses, fashion, amazing buildings, comfort, great music, the best instruments, and much, much more. The Church has an offer for anyone and to please everyone. We try our best to entertain people, to have the best possible Church service, and we can't even see that God doesn't have any room left, due to the fact that we have increased and He has decreased in our meetings.
Going back to the passage in Luke 19, verse 37, we can see the crowds cheering up for Jesus. That's exactly what the Church does today with our "Praise and Worship' program, because whoever has the best and latest music wins.
Through praise, we say we open the gates of heaven and we prepare a way for God to come during the worship time. A sort of a spiritual battle. But we ended up covering through our praise the things that must be changed in our lives. We say we have Jesus and therefore we have a free entrance to the Father. It is true, Jesus is the Intercessor but there is also an unchanged fact: we still serve a Holy God. Moses was the Intercessor between Israel and God, but when Gd wanted to meet with them at the Sinai mountain, He asked them to prepare themselves so that they may stay in His presence. We go to Church, which is the meeting place with God, as if we would go to a fancy club, we don't eve think that we are about to meet The God of Avram, Isac and Jacob. In verse 41, it's written that Jesus wept for the city. Why? Because they knew no longer the things that were meant to bring them peace and failed to know the time of their visitation. I believe the Church s in the same situation today. They are looking for their peace in other places and in other things and when Jesus comes to visit our Churches, we are too busy with our own agenda and we don't allow Him to touch us and change us.
„Then he entered the temple area and began driving out those who were selling. It is written," he said to them, " 'My house will be a house of prayer' ; but you have made it 'a den of robbers.' (Luke 19:45-46)
Today the Church of Christ has turned in to a den. A place that is so cold and so dark and so unwelcoming for those that are outsiders, it's a place for businesses, it's a place where you can make deals with your brothers. A Christian club that doesn't have any room for the people in the world, and on the surface is something so great and something that pleases one's eyes, but that's all, it;s just pleasing to men. „And as he taught them, he said, "Is it not written: " 'My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations' ? But you have made it 'a den of robbers.' (Mark 11:17) Our house of prayer has become private property and it's no longer a place where anyone can come and worship together with us. I am a Pastor and I just realized that the Church I pastor, is heading towards an earthly image and on it's way to become a club. I don't wish to take over an idea of some man of what the Church should be and what program it should have. I love "Praise and worship"and I know it's a Scriptural thing, but it's not a standard that i want to copy and by that standard to judge the success of the Church and if God's presence is there or not. The way things are in Church today is no longer something heavenly but very earthly.
Maybe some of you are expecting me to give an example of what a Church should do, but I don't believe that there is just one way of doing things, we do need diversity, but I also believe that if i set my heart on understanding God's idea of what His body should be like, a body that will praise Him, then I am on the right track. I want to challenge you to pray for your Church to become a house of prayer for all nations and most of all, a place where Jesus is honored.

God's servant
Pastor Rares Calugar

Mercy not sacrifice

2009-04-07T01:31:00.000-07:00

We must do all things the way Jesus did. Behind every miracle, behind every sign, behind every action on those in need, Jesus was moved by only one thing. Compassion.

Jesus taught people because he felt compassion for them. Not to show off his qualities of a great teacher.

Mark 6:34

When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.

Jesus set people free of demonic powers because He had compassion on them. Not to amaze people, but because |He had compassion on people.

Mark 5:18-19

As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. Jesus did not let him, but said, "Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you."

Jesus healed people because He had compassion on them. Not to make people follow Him, not because he needed their praise or their admiration.

Mathew 14:14

When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.

Jesus fed people out of compassion.

Mark 8:2

"I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat.

Jesus raised up people from death, still because He had compassion on them.

Luke 7:13-15

When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, "Don't cry." Then he went up and touched the coffin, and those carrying it stood still. He said, "Young man, I say to you, get up!" The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother.

If anyone desires to do the work of God, the way God wills it, then one needs mercy and compassion to do so. If not, then these miracle performers just draw attention, but don't necessarily lead the healed person to salvation. If compassion doesn't embody the action one does in The Name of The Lord, then we might face the harsh words that Jesus will address one day:

Matthew 7:22-23 Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'

These people really did miracles, really performed healing, Jesus doesn't say, 'no, you didn't do these things', He just tells them that they are evildoers. Now, the miracles themselves can't be the evil Jesus is accusing them of, but because they did all these things to impress others. If what pushes me towards doing good is mercy and compassion, then I begin to resemble God. Then I walk on the way God asked me to walk. He said:

Matthew 9:13

But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.'

Meaning, the action that I make, even if it's made for God, if it doesn't have compassion for my neighbour, motivating it, I am just fooling myself in to thinking that I am serving God.

How can I show my love towards God? Can I do anything for Him?

In the Book of Job 35 is written:

If you sin, how does that affect him? If your sins are many, what does that do to him? If you are righteous, what do you give to him, or what does he receive from your hand? Your wickedness affects only a man like yourself, and your righteousness only the sons of men.

I can't see God and there is absolutely nothing I can do god for Him. If I want to do good for God the the only way i can do that is by doing good for my neighbour.

For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.' "Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

Let us walk in the footsteps of Jesus by letting compassion to move us in our every action. Let us do everything as for the Lord.

Inspired by Pastor Douglas Montague's message, Sunday, the 5Th of April

I am what I am because He is what He is

2009-04-01T02:27:00.000-07:00

Do you feel good with what you are? Do you have a good self esteem? What do you see when you look at yourself?
I see Christ, I see a crucified and resurrected man, I see a new creation in Christ, I see a part of Christ's Body, I see the strength of God, I see a righteous man, I see The Kingdom of God, I see The wisdom of God, I see the glory of God, I see a justified and approved man by God, I see the grace of God, I see a conqueror, I see a man empowered by God, i see humility, eternal life, the love of God, I see a son of light.

I am what I am because He is what He is

What leads your life? From what does your identity come? What is it that controls you?

YOUR STRENGTH, YOUR ABILITIES?

(1 Corinthians 15:10) „But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which [was bestowed] upon me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.“

If The grace of God is sufficient for you to be able to do great things for God, then you must trust the grace of God and not your abilities and your own strength.

YOUR WEAKNESSES?

(2 Corinthians 12:9) „And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.“
(2 Corinthians 13:4) „For though he was crucified through weakness, yet he live by the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but we shall live with him by the power of God toward you.“

THE WISDOM OF THIS WORLD?

(2 Corinthians 1:12)„For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conversation in the world, and more abundantly to you-ward.“

YOUR WISDOM, YOUR KNOWLEDGE, WHAT YOU KNOW OR DON'T KNOW?

(1 Corinthians 1:27)„But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty"

YOUR FEAR, THE DEVIL'S LIES, WHAT OTHERS SAY ABOUT YOU?

(Romans 8:29-34)„For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestined [to be] conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestined, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. What shall we then say to these things? If God [be] for us, who [can be] against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? [It is] God that justified. Who [is] he that condemned? [It is] Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also made intercession for us.“
IF GOD IS ON YOUR SIDE, THEN MAKE BIG PLANS

YOUR FLESH, YOUR SIN? YOUR EGO?

(Romans 6:5-8)„For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also [in the likeness] of [his] resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with [him], that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him“
(Romans 13:14) „But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to [fulfill] the lusts [thereof]. “

YOUR PAST, YOUR FAILURES, YOUR WOUNDS?

(2 Corinthians 5:17) „Therefore if any man [be] in Christ, [he is] a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."

YOUR PRIDE, YOUR FALSE HUMILITY?

(Luke 16:15)„And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knows your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.“
Galatians 6:14 „But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.“
(Luke 14:11) „For whosoever exalts himself shall be abased; and he that humbles himself shall be exalted.”

YOUR LOOKS, YOUR BACKGROUND?

(2 Corinthians 5:12)„For we commend not ourselves again unto you, but give you occasion to glory on our behalf, that ye may have somewhat to [answer] them which glory in appearance, and not in heart.“

YOUR FAMILY OR IT'S IDENTITY?

(Luke 9:60)„Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God.”

FINANCIAL DIFFICULTIES? BAD CIRCUMSTANCES?

2 Corinthians 11;24 – 27 and 30 (Paul and his tribulations)

John 7:6 „Then Jesus said unto them, My time is not yet come: but your time is always ready.“
John 1:23 “He said, I [am] the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord.........."
2 Corinthians 5:20„Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech [you] by us: we pray [you] in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.“
John 3:30 „For every one that does evil hates the light, neither comes to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. “

Think if what you are right now, what you are doing right now, the way you think right now, the way you live your life right now is what God wants for you right now. If not, what must change? The way you see yourself? The way you act? The way you live? The way you think? What is it that you must do for Him to increase and for you to decrease?

-- Pastor Rareș Călugăr, Sunday 29Th of March, 2009

Our Intercessor

2009-03-27T03:02:00.000-07:00

Today we decided to introduce you to someone really special and dear to our Church. Her name is Mihaela Serban.

There are many things that describe Mihaela, such as her constant smile, a good attitude that anyone could envy, but more than anything Mihaela is synonym with prayer in our Church. She is the person that intercedes for our Church's needs, constantly. Even though she thinks she's doing the most simple thing on earth, all of us benefit from her steadfastness in prayer. We would like you to know, about Mihaela, that the way she does things in the most humble way, is an example for all of us. We post this entry as an appreciation for a soul that sits in a secret place and from there, where no one can see her, she's lifting up prayers for an entire Church, for all of the Body of Christ, and for the entire country.

We asked Mihaela to write down a few words about the way she sees God using her.

Here's what she wrote:

”Ever since I can remember i loved people, I wanted to listen to them, to try and understand them, to know their problems and try to help them in any way I could, even if it was just an encouragement. My friends use to come to me and tell me their troubles and they were opening up to me. I had a desire to help the lonely ones, the ones that were suffering or felt rejected, but I didn't know how.

After i came to know Christ, I found out there was a way to help them: BY PRAYING!!

Later I understood that God placed within me the gift of mercy and compassion. I always had and still have a strong patriotic spirit. I love all Romanians, no matter what nationality. I am proud to be Romanian and it really hurts me when people speak disrespectfully of Romanians and Romania.

When I asked God what was His will for me, He showed me the verse 13 of Psalm 51: "[Then] will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee. "

I thought that I am not the right person, that I am so small compared to such a great call. But still, God placed on my heart the need to pray for my Pastor, for the leaders, for my "small family" (husband, parents, kids) and my "big family" Romania! - Mihaela Șerban –”

We thank God for Mihaela and if there is something that we can wish to the other Churches, is that they should have someone like Mihaela.

May God bless you all!

2009-03-24T04:58:00.000-07:00

Our Church had a great surprise on Sunday morning. We were visited by a good friend of our Church, Reini Haimann.
Reini was a missionary in Romania for more than 10 years, and then moved back to Switzerland, but he does come to visit every time he has a chance. Pastor Rares saw an opportunity and asked him to share something with us and even though it was more like a sermon, but we were really built up by his message.
Reini read from Ezekiel 47:1-12
”The man brought me back to the entrance of the temple, and I saw water coming out from under the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was coming down from under the south side of the temple, south of the altar. the water there becomes fresh. He then brought me out through the north gate and led me around the outside to the outer gate facing east, and the water was flowing from the south side. As the man went eastward with a measuring line in his hand, he measured off a thousand cubits and then led me through water that was ankle-deep. He measured off another thousand cubits and led me through water that was knee-deep. He measured off another thousand and led me through water that was up to the waist. He measured off another thousand, but now it was a river that I could not cross, because the water had risen and was deep enough to swim in--a river that no one could cross. He asked me, "Son of man, do you see this?" Then he led me back to the bank of the river. When I arrived there, I saw a great number of trees on each side of the river. He said to me, "This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah, where it enters the Sea. When it empties into the Sea, Swarms of living creatures will live wherever the river flows. There will be large numbers of fish, because this water flows there and makes the salt water fresh; so where the river flows everything will live. Fishermen will stand along the shore; from En Gedi to En Eglaim there will be places for spreading nets. The fish will be of many kinds--like the fish of the Great Sea. But the swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they will be left for salt. Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither, nor will their fruit fail. Every month they will bear, because the water from the sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing.”

1 Corinthians 6:19
"Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own"
Due to the fact that we are the temple of The Holy Spirit, there is the River of the Spirit flowing through us, the same River that Ezekiel saw.
”Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." John 7:38

It's up to each us , how much of this River flows through our lives. The more you lose control, the more God is in control. The more you step further in His presence, the more you find yourself deeper in Him and in His will for your life. This River is meant to bring life wherever it flows.
Fishermen will stand along the shore of this River and they will catch much fish. Jesus called us to be fishermen of men.
The trees that will be on the sides of this River will bring forth fruit, every month, and this fruit will serve for food and it's leafs for healing.
We know from Galatians 5:22, what is the fruit of the Spirit of God. If we bring forth the fruit of the Spirit, this fruit will feed the hungry and heal the sick, because these fruits are not for ourselves, but for others. How do we bring fruit? If we remain in Jesus. John 15:5 says "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing."

Let us remain in Him so that we might bring forth fruit for His glory. Amen.

2009-03-17T06:04:00.000-07:00

Sunday morning we had a guest from Texas, USA. Brother Willey Perry, spoke about the price that Jesus paid for us and about the benefits of the Church, due to Christ's Sacrifice. We were reminded that we were bought at a price and therefore we must live holy lives for God.

1 Corinthians 6:20
you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.

So if we no longer belong to ourselves, we don't owe anything to our flesh, so we don't have to obey it's requests. There was a price paid so that we might have free entrance to the Father and so that we might be holy.

There was a price paid so that we might have healing in our bodies today:

Isaiah 53:5 "But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed."
1 Peter 2:24 "He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed."

There was a price paid so that we might have a sane mind. Brother Perry gave a wonderful explanation for this. He said that all of a Christian's battles are in his mind. That's where the thoughts come and later become actions. Jesus paid by wearing a crown on His head, by bleeding from His head, He paid for me to have a sane mind.

There was a price paid for me to walk right with God. In order for my feet to walk in righteousness, Jesus feet were nailed to the cross.

There was a price paid for His Church to be born. Brother Perry made an awesome comparing between the first Adam, that was caused to sleep so that Eve was made from His side. Just like that the second Adam, was pierced, and bled from His side, so that a Bride could be made for Him. Just like the first Adam, that woke up after his sleep, the second Adam was raised to Life, and by His Life, He gave Life to all those that believed in Him.

In ending, brother Perry said that we have to live holy lives because we were bought with a price.

May God help us all live like servants of righteousness not slaves to sin.

Life in The Spirit

2009-03-03T04:02:00.000-08:00

(Psalm 51:11) „Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.“

(Acts 2:17) „In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.“

(Numbers 14:24) „But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it.“

On your way to Canaan, are you led by the Holy Spirit, or everything you see are the giants in the land? Do you let the Holy Spirit to give you enthusiasm, or you guide yourself after what your natural eyes see?
How does one depend on the Spirit of God? First of all, you must trust Him, even when you are in the wilderness. When you don't see anything, when you can't feel anything, depend on Him. Learn how to draw life from Him.

- Life in The Spirit, means balance, steadfastness and continuity.

“Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?" (Galatians 3:3)

- Life in The Spirit means, that you do not base your decisions on your emotions, nor on what you feel, but you base your decisions on God's power. ”…'Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the Lord Almighty. –“ (Zachariah 4:6)

- To be driven by the Spirit, means to life a spiritual life, spiritual maturity, it means that you live filled with Life.
“You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.” (Romans 8:9)
“ Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation-but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live' (Romans 8:12,13)

- Life in the Spirit means freshness from God, having something fresh and good in your life every day (the manna that God gives is fresh every day an you will not have to live with old dead things in your life).
„The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.“ (John 6:63)

- To live in the Spirit means that circumstances don't dictate the way I live my life, what I see in the natural, doesn't dictate my life, but what is from the Spirit of God, dictates my life. „“Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.(Galatians 5:25)

- When you are led by the Spirit you have a goal for your life, you know where you have to go and what you must do, you understand God's will for your life and you don't listen to the lies of the devil. „But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.“ (John 16:13)

- When you are led by the Spirit you find water even in the desert. ”But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness." (Romans 8:10)

- When you are led by the Spirit, you overcome temptations. „…In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. (Romans 8:26)

- Life in the Spirit means a life that allows you to find rest even in the midst of battle or troubles.
„like cattle that go down to the plain, they were given rest by the Spirit of the Lord. This is how you guided your people to make for yourself a glorious name. “ (Isaiah 63:14)
„Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.“
(2 Corinthians 3:17)

- Life in the Spirit focuses all your attention on Christ, not on the devil and on what he might do to you, because living in the Spirit offers you spiritual protection.
„ …When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him. “ (Isaiah 59:19)

- When you are led by the Spirit, you get to truly experiment 'the joy of salvation' and you are refreshed. „The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity; but a wounded spirit who can bear? (Proverbs 18:14)
„For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.“ (Romans 14:17)

- When you allow the Spirit to lead you, you are like clay and in the potter's hands and God, through the Holy Spirit, molds you in a shape that He can use. „But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, [even] as by the Spirit of the Lord.“ (2 Corinthians 3:18)

- Life in the Spirit means a life without fear of future, it means hope and trust. „But when they shall lead [you], and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand what ye shall speak, neither do ye premeditate: but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye: for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost.“ (Mark 13:11)

(Job 32:8) „But [there is] a spirit in man: and the inspiration of the Almighty gives them understanding.”

(Isaiah 30:1) „Woe to the rebellious children, saith the LORD, that take counsel, but not of me; and that cover with a covering, but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin“

(Matthew 26:41)”Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed [is] willing, but the flesh [is] weak.”

(Acts 20:23) „Save that the Holy Ghost witnesses in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me.“

(John 14:17) „[Even] the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it sees him not, neither knows him: but ye know him; for he dwells with you, and shall be in you.”

Pastor Rareș Călugăr

2009-02-24T08:43:00.000-08:00

On Sunday morning, we had a special service, and it was special because we got to bless a baby boy, by the name of Victor Stefan Samartineanu. On this occasion, we heared a blessed message from God, through Pastor Rares Calugar.

Psalm 139:13-16
"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be."
-Long before you were conceived by your parents, you were conceived in the mind of God. He planned where you will be born and where you will live and He decided that for His glory. Your rase and your nationality are not an accident. God didn't leave anything up to chance. Everything has a purpose.
Although there are illegitimate parents, THERE ARE NO ILLEGITIMATE CHILDREN. Many children were not planned by their parents, but they were planned by God. God's plan used even the human mistakes. God didn't create anything accidental and God never makes any mistakes. He's got a purpose for everything He creates. You were planned to bring joy to God. He wanted you to see the light of day and He rejoiced over your birth. God didn't HAVE TO create you, but HE WANTED TO create you, and that brought Him joy. You exist for His glory, for His plan and because He wants so.
The main purpose for your life is to bring God joy. When you will truly understand that, you will never feel insignificant again. God is the one that proves what you worth.

(Isaiah 44:5) „One will say, 'I belong to the Lord'; another will call himself by the name of Jacob; still another will write on his hand, 'The Lord's,' and will take the name Israel.”

(Isaiah 55:8-9) „"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the Lord."As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.“

(Jeremiah 29:11) „For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.“

(Job 23:14) „He carries out his decree against me, and many such plans he still has in store.“
(Job 38:2) „"Who is this that darkens my counsel with words without knowledge?“
(Job 42:2) „"I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted.”

(Ephesians 3:20) „Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,“

(1 Chronicles 28:9) „"And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever.

(1 Chronicles 28:20) "David also said to Solomon his son, "Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the temple of the Lord is finished."

God doesn't leave you until He finishes all that He planned for you life. What you must do is fight against fear, you must raise up and know what God wants from you and where he wants to take you.
(Joshua 1:2-8) "Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them--to the Israelites. I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates--all the Hittite country--to the Great Sea on the west. No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. "Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful."

"Moses's time" is gone, this is your time. Raise up and stir up from inside you, the things that God has placed inside and they are asleep. God has given you a task and nothing will be able to resist you. You want to write history for an eternal Kingdom? Well... maybe your name will not be known on earth, but be sure it will be known in heaven. When you will stand before the throne of God, you will hold your head high and you will say "I finished my race, and I made my heart understand for as long as I was alive, the will of God for my life"

(Ephesians 5:14-17) „for it is light that makes everything visible. This is why it is said: "Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you. "Be very careful, then, how you live-not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is.”

(1 Timothy 4:14)„Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through a prophetic message when the body of elders laid their hands on you.“
......

(Joshua 14:7-9) „I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh Barnea to explore the land. And I brought him back a report according to my convictions, but my brothers who went up with me made the hearts of the people melt with fear. I, however, followed the Lord my God wholeheartedly. So on that day Moses swore to me, 'The land on which your feet have walked will be your inheritance and that of your children forever, because you have followed the Lord my God wholeheartedly."
God wants you to follow exactly His plan and His will for your life, so that you may have the inheritance that He has prepared for you. You mustn't look to the right or to the left, because people will always disappoint you, but know that God has a perfect plan with your life and He will make sure to bring that plan in to existence. But you must do your part as well, meaning to do your best not to miss His will.

(1 Chronicles 29:19) „And give my son Solomon the wholehearted devotion to keep your commands, requirements and decrees and to do everything to build the palatial structure for which I have provided."

(1 Chronicles 28:11-13)„Then David gave his son Solomon the plans for the portico of the temple, its buildings......"

After these words, we blessed Victor, through the words of Numbers 6:22-26:

„The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace!“
And we all answered 'AMEN!'

2009-02-17T02:09:00.000-08:00

Sunday, 15th of February, the "Way of faith" Church, celebrated 1 year of activity in Cluj, and 5 years of activity in Micesti.
On this occasion, Pastor Rares, had a really good message for us. God spoke to us, through him, about the similar ways in which God manifests His Kingdom, in the life of an individual as well as in the life of the Church.

(Luke 12:32)
„"Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom."

God is pleased to give us the Kingdom, but in order to receive it, a good soil is needed, or better said a good heart, a pure heart, one that lacks any form of corruption and impurities. This is essential for an individual in the Body as well for the Church in general.
The sower's parable (Mathew 13:3-23), the weeds parable (Matthew 13:24-25), the mustard seed and yeast parables (Matthew 13:31-33), they all aim at the same point, which is that one has to have a clean heart, in order for it to bring fruit.
Hosea 10:12
Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the Lord, until he comes and showers righteousness on you.

Mark 4:26
He also said, "This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground.
Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how.
All by itself the soil produces grain-first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head.
As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come."

1 Corinthians 3:9
For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building.

2 Corinthians 9:10
„Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness.“

Things that we must be aware of :
- If we don't understand God's will for us and the vision He gave us as a Church, then the evil one comes and steals the things that have been sowed in our hearts. We must know the purpose of our existence as a Church, and that is to see born again Orthodox Christians, to see people growing in the knowledge of what God is for their lives, and for us to be servants of the Kingdom of God, through the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 13:19)
- We might get too excited too soon about what God is doing, failing to see that it might not be real. Without solid foundation, the building won't last, and if the Church doesn't have a solid foundation, at the smallest sign of disagreement, the Church falls apart. (Matthew 13:20-21)
- We might be blinded by a sudden financial success (a Church building sooner than it's time) or something that Satan could use to distract us from the really important things and make us into slaves of comfort. (Matthew 13:22)
- We have to be careful, because although we sow in Spirit, there are people that come and sow in the flesh. These are people that have nothing to do with our Church people that don't care about the welfare of our Church, but they come and through words, or false doctrines, or religiosity in our midst, thus trying to change things that is not for them to change. (Matthew 13:25)
- We must try and please God, not the people
„Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord.“ (Colossians 3:22)
- Our job is to know God and understand His will for us. To sow the seeds that He gives us (good seed) and He will take care of the fruits. (Matthew 13:23)
- As a Church we must make an effort to be a good soil, that God can use and through which God can show His glory.
„(they were) praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.“ (Acts 2:47)

- It is better for us to be like the yeast that grows in secret, but before you know it can not be contained. Or as the mustard seed that stays hidden in a secret place i the ground and although you can't see it, it grows, and before you know it, it's a strong plant.
„Therefore, in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail.
But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God."”(Acts 5:38-39)

- Jesus didn't use his disciples for his own interests, but to build the Kingdom of God. Our interest should be the same. We should care more about the people than for the institution itself. You are the Church, every individual. Just like Jesus said to Peter, so too He says to you 'You are a living stone and on this rock I will build my Church'. Not on the name of any denomination, but on the New Name that Jesus gave you in Him. He is building a Church on sons and daughters. And if the gates of hell can't have victory over your life, it can't have victory over Christ's Church either.

(1 Peter 2:5) „you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.“

Today in Micesti

2009-02-11T10:22:00.000-08:00

2009-02-10T04:08:00.000-08:00

As we announced, Friday night we had a Prayer Night. Even though we were only a few, God was among us and everyone present was encouraged.
We prayed for the safety of the citizens in our city that become victims to assaults. For the future generations, for the orphans in our country or children raised only by one parent, for the children left alone with relatives by parents that go in another country trying to make a better living.
We asked God to give wisdom and integrity to those that lead our country.
We prayed against the spirit of suicide that has it’s hold on the people of Cluj, against the pornography that is all over the pace.
We asked God to make His Church strong, so that it would have a word to say in this country, that it will not be tolerant to sin but condemn it when it’s seen.
We truly believe that God listened to our prayers and that’s why we want to continue these prayer meetings, and we would like to have the next meeting on Friday, the 6th of March, starting with 20:30.

2009-01-30T03:13:00.000-08:00

In this blog entry, we want to introduce you to Nicoleta Călugăr and the work she does.
Nicoleta is Pastor Rares's wife and she works for 2 years now with Mariene and Yvonne Kroon's Ministry in Floresti. They are a couple of Dutch missionaries that live in Romania now and work with the gypsy people in Floresti.

They work with the children from very poor families, helping them with their homework and trying to keep them in School, because it's quite common for the gypsy children to quite school.
This ministry helps the families of these children with food, cloths and even building them homes.
They also have a women's meeting once a week, where they try and teach gypsy women about God and about things that can help them in their every day life.

Nicoleta teaches as well the Sunday School in Micesti and she's quite good at it.
We want you to know she's a great support to our Pastor and she's an example worthy to be followed by every woman in our Church and not only.

Generational Blessing

2009-01-27T04:05:00.000-08:00

Pastor Rareș had a message on how God blesses the faithfulness of one person, to a thousand generations. (Exodus 20:6)

Don’t be selfish and think that everything is just about you. Some people tend to say “well, it’s my life and I do whatever I want with it”. God is the one that gave you breath of life and your soul belongs to Him.
One should realize that what he does affects his brothers and sisters. Your sin affects me and affects the Body of Christ, both local and universal. And just the same, your obedience helps my prayers to be answered and helps The Kingdom of God to grow.
“If one part suffers every part suffers with it, if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.” 1 Corinthians 12:26
Know that your obedience, your faith and your relationship with God, meaning that which you build in intimacy with God, it’s an inheritance for those in your family and your Church. Generations to come, will benefit from the fruits of your righteousness.
“I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother, Lois and in your mother Eunice and I am persuaded now lives in you also.” 2 Timothy 1:5
2 Samuel 7:8 – 19
God can fulfill the desires of your heart through the lives of your children. Maybe your vision will be fulfilled after you will be gone. But you must have a vision for the generations that will come after you. You must prepare the ground for the generations to come. You must build the right circumstances for the future generations, so that they might finis what you started. Maybe just as David, you must fight the enemy that tries to steal the spiritual inheritance that you are trying to leave to your children. Maybe you need to fight during your life time so that your children will have peace to build the kingdom of God.
1 Kings2:1-4
In order that God might fulfill his promise to you, in the lives of your children, you must do your part as well.
“The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me, your love, O, Lord, endures forever – do not abandon the works of your hands” Psalm 138:8

At the end of this message, our Church honored the faithfulness of 3 ladies, to whom we owe the fact that we belong to God today.
3 Grandmothers influenced through their life, through their prayers and obedience the lives of many people in our Church and in the Body of Christ.
These ladies have been living their faith during good times and during bad times. They have been persecuted by the communists, by their families, by their friends, laughed upon, mocked, ridiculed, but still found through the race of God, the strength not to let go of what they believed, had the strength to keep on going for more than 38 yeas of faithfulness.
As a symbol, we gave them a diploma. We didn’t do this to praise them as people, but we did this to honor God’s faithfulness.

Our Praise and Worship Team

2009-01-23T09:57:00.000-08:00

When we started this blog, we said it was meant to help you know us better, and to keep you informed about what God is doing in the lives and through the lives of the people in our Church. Due to that fact we would like you to get to know our (and God's) Praise and Worship team.
I do not know if what defines them is necessarily the fact that they are good musicians, but I know for sure that the main thing about them is that they are worshipers in Spirit and in Truth. They are the people that take us every time, as a Church, to the Father's throne.
All of them are extraordinary people and our Church is really blessed to have them leading us in praise and worship.

Ioana Sămărtineanu:

Ioana has been working together with Pastor Rares for many years now. She is a wonderful person and you can feel her heart in her worship before the Lord and before us. Ioana is the praise and worship leader and she plays guitar. She's also working as an accountant for the Church and I can say she does a great job. We can feel that God is with her in everything she does, both spiritual and natural.

Alina Goia:
Alina is blessed with a beautiful voice and a wonderful gift to take people in front of God through song. She is married to Corneliu Goia and together they lead the youth meetings in our Church.

Raluca Murăşan:

Raluca is a very cheerful and sincere person both in every day life and in her worship. She plays guitar and she's quite good with rhythm. Raluca is working with 'King's love' mission which is a ministry that works with the street kids in Cluj.

Diana Goia:

Diana serves the Lord in the team through her voice and she is a blessing to us. She is married to Samuel Goia and together they have a wonderful daughter, Sara. They are indispensable to our church both as a family and as servants and we thank God for them.

Florin Şumandea:

Florin is the only man in the team and in consequence he keeps the rhythm. He does a great job and he is a blessing to us both as a servant and as a worshiper.

These are our worshipers. They are wonderful through everything that each of them brings before God and before us.
For the members in our Church, we would like to encourage you to appreciate them more and for those of you that might wonder, NO, this is not an entry to sing praises to anyone, but as a Church we are proud of them and we love them very much, that's why we present them to you.
Please keep us in your prayers.
God bless all of you that read this blog!

The Father's heart

2009-01-20T07:04:00.000-08:00

On Sunday morning, Pastor Rares had a really good message on 'The Father's heart'. Those of us that were present, felt the love and the message of peace that God, our Father, has for us, through a letter that Pastor Rares read to the Church.
Due to the fact that we were truly encouraged by these words, we would like to share them with you, through this blog.

"The Lord, your God, is with you, He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with His love, he will rejoice over you with singing"
- Zephaniah 3:17

My child,
If anybody wants you to be successful, I do. If Anyone is on your side, I am. No one cares more about your happiness than I do and no one has even began to love you the way I already do.
Because I love you so much, sometimes I am even quiet. And I know that that is the hardest time for you. But do you know why I am quiet? Because I can't smile and talk at the same time (as if something is impossible for Me). Why am I smiling? Because I am overwhelmed with joy for you. I realize that you might find it hard to believe all these things, but I want you to try.
You're going to end up believing all this one day, so you might as well believe it now.
Read Zephaniah 3:17 and see that I am right.
You're not making a mistake to step in faith at this moment ... "for who despises the day of small things?" (Zachariah 4:10). Men do. Not I.
If you never step out of the boat, you will never know what it's like to walk on water.
Why not trust in My abilities to teach you and direct your steps? Do you know anyone better that can teach you?
Does an earthly father punish his child if e falls down while learning how to walk? Why then are you afraid of Me? If your heart is pure (like a little child's) then i dare you to dare.
Let's take a look again in My word:
"Commit your way to the Lord, trust in Him and he will do this" (Psalm 37:4)
My child, our Kingdom is an eternal one. It's built on solid foundation. You have my word, what else can you possibly need? Did I ever mislead you, or did I ever forget about you? Didn't my Son Jesus already promised that "whoever comes to me, I will not drive away". Then all you have to do is remember His promises and leave aside all doubts. I perform a work in your life the same way I did with all those that trusted me since the beginning of creation until now.
I am fulfilling My word in your life. Trust in Me now! If you do so, then you will never have to go through this test of trust over and over again.
Some things I allow in you life, not to destroy your faith but to help you grow in faith.
I want you to enlarge your heart so that I can fit a bigger faith in it. Don't let unbelief speak so loud that you can't even hear My voice anymore. I am keeping my promises. Please tell Me, do you have a better plan?
My Kingdom should be your delight and I will give you the desires of your heart just like I said in Psalm 37:4.
Do not be concern with 'overusing' My grace. Do you think a father gets upset with his child if the child uses the things that the father has put at his disposal? My grace is all you need to have victory in your life. If you don't use it, what could possibly help you? The power of positive thinking? Ha! - honestly that makes Me laugh.
Not long ago I said to someone "My grace is sufficient for you, for My grace is made perfect in weakness."
Life with Me is an adventure, not just adversities. Stop arguing with Me. Rejoice! Stop complaining!
Happiness is a choice. When you chose to be happy, then you chose heaven. Decide to begin and practice unconditioned praise.
When I ask you to sing Me praises and to rejoice in My presence, please know that I don't ask you that because I need you to encourage Me or anything like that. My commandment to praise Me is because I love you and I want you to enter through the gates that praise and worship access in to My presence. So praise Me!
And know one more thing: I Can't really sleep. "He who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep" Psalm 121:4
I proved to you that I can't stay away from you and because I wanted you close I sacrificed everything I loved most: My Son.
I don't want you to just know things about Me, I WANT YOU TO KNOW ME! I want you to know all this because I am still here for you, for My Name is, I AM.
In closing, I want to ask you to share the love you felt from Me with the ones that never felt it. The only way I can show My love towards the ones that are lost, is through you. The Holy Spirit will teach you how to do that.
Until I see you in My Son's Kingdom, keep that which you have received , fight for what is true and don't forget: Your help comes from Me... Just lift up your eyes.
"I will lift my eyes to the hills - where does my help come from? My help comes from The Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth." Psalm 121:1-2

With love, Father God

2009-01-14T04:18:00.000-08:00

Tuesday, 13Th of January, our Church had a prayer evening together with the Church ”Emanuel” in Turda.
We had a really blessed time together and we think God strengthened the unity between our Churches.

We also want to let you know about a prayer night that we'll be having on the 6Th of February, starting with 10 pm. Everybody that wants to join us is very welcome to do so.

May God bless you all!

COURAGE

2009-01-14T03:54:00.000-08:00

-Courage is needed to be able to see reality as it is
-You need courage to admit you have a need.
-You need courage to change.
-You need courage to face condemnation.
Your life is made of your decisions and built by your words. Be bold, both in your words and in your actions. Success does not depend on your ability to say yes but on your need to say no to the things that seems good but you don’t need that in your life.
Many times, Satan is tempting you with things that seem good, but those things might end up controlling us eventually and push you away from God’s will in your life.
You’ll never have success in your life if you focus on your weaknesses. You can never have success through your own strength.
Your motivation must always be pure. God is The One that develops creative ideas in your mind. He gives you desires and then He empowers you to be able to fulfill those dreams.
Once you crucified your flesh:”get off the cross”. Jesus did the same. Live for Him.
All your decisions become energy. Decisions make you act. Once you take a decision, you need commitment to reach that goal.
A very important element that determines success is attention to details, because God cares about details. Write those details down so that you pay attention to them.
DECISION. COMMITMENT. DISCIPLINE. DETAILS
These 4 can be necessary ingredients so that you see fruits in your own life this year.
When you take a decision it’s good to write it down so that you stick to it.
Commit to your goal and discipline yourself to reach them. Pay attention to small details and take notes of everything you’re told and don’t seem important.
For example: “I want to God’s heart. Commit to this goal and start to study the word of God.
Let the discipline of obedience function in your life, not postponing but immediate obedience.
AN OUNCE OF OBEDIENCE EQUALS A POUND OF PRAYER.
Be like David, not like Saul. Make a change in victory, don’t be an example as of not to do.
That is my desire for you in this New Year, to make big plans because you serve a big God.

Pastor Rares Calugar
(some quotes are from - Edwin Louis Cole’s book: “Courage”)

2008-12-25T05:48:00.000-08:00

Christmas is here and to celebrate it, and to celebrate He that decided to come on earth to save mankind, the "Way of Faith" Church had a festive day Sunday, 21st of December. In the morning the Church in Cluj had a special guest, Pastor Helmuth from Turda (a city close to Cluj) and the teenagers from their Church. After a powerful messege, Pastor Helmuth and their group sang some Carols. We were really blessed by their presence in our Church.

In the afternoon, the 'Way of faith' Church in Micesti, had a Christmas Concert, held by the praise and worship team in our Church, together with a good friend of our Church, Dan Lupas. The people in the village were really happy, and we felt encouraged by their joy. Our Ministry tried to make a small gift for every person that came to Church and so to bless the people, and we believe we did, and for that we praise God.

Christ The Cornerstone, Romania and "Way of Faith" Church wants to wish all of you a most happy and blessed Christmas and a wonderful New Year!

2008-12-19T03:42:00.000-08:00

Thursday, 18Th of December, we went to the school in Micesti to give out presents to the kids there. We had a good time and the children were happy.
After that we went in the village to invite people to a carol concert that we`ll have in Micesti on Sunday evening. Although the weather was bad, we had some help from the students from "Christ for Romania" Bible School, in Cluj. All in all it was a good day and for that we praise God.

16Th of December

2008-12-17T02:13:00.000-08:00

Tuesday, the 16Th of December, was quite a busy day. In the morning we went to 2 villages, Deleni and Filea de Jos, to give out Christmas gifts to the kids in the schools. The joy we saw on their faces was a real blessing to us and for this we want to thank Operation Christmas Child, Austria, for their help.

In the evening, the youth from our Church went to sing Carols in the center of the city. Although there weren't many people there, some people did stop and we did give out some invitations for the Church. We had a good time, and we were all encouraged to go out more.

Way of Faith - Christmas Party

2008-12-15T21:33:00.000-08:00

Saturday, 13Th of December The 'Way of Faith' Church had a Christmas Party. We had fun and it was great fellowship. Here are some pictures so that you have an idea of what that was like.
May God bless you all

Christ The Cornerstone in Romania

2008-12-05T08:21:00.000-08:00

The founders of CTC (Christ The Cornerstone), Matt and Denise Elliott, have served the Lord in Romania since 1995. They founded Christ the Cornerstone Missions Intl. Inc., in 1999 with the vision of raising up missionaries on the field and at home in the U.S. Their passion is to see the body of Christ equipped and encouraged to fulfill the will of God in their lives, and to be an example of godliness and sincerity in the home and in all walks of life. They began forming Team CTC in 2001 when they asked their first national to join the team as a full-time missionary. Since then, the team has grown with the vision to evangelize and train Christians for the work of the ministry in the city and in the villages. The Elliott's moved to a semi-remote mountain village in 2002, after having begun ministry in that and several other villages three years prior. Their focus for village evangelism is living among the people as they evangelize door to door, through evangelism tours, special programs and the Way of Faith Church which they opened in 2003. Living among the people means growing a garden, keeping chickens, helping neighbors in the fields with the crops, and visiting other villagers. The fruit is evident as many have come to the Lord in 10 different villages and many lives have been changed.

After the Elliott's have moved back to US, the ministry, although supervised by them, is mainly managed by Pastor Rares and Nicoleta Calugar, which also pastor the 'Way of faith' Church, both in Cluj and Micesti.
Pastor Rares and Nicoleta have been married for 6 years now, and they have a 4 year old son Samuel, and expecting anther child soon.
Pastor Rares's Vision and CTC Romania vision is to plant churches both in villages and in the city, in order to be able to see born again Orthodox Christians in Romania.

We wish to make disciples and raise up Romanian missionaries that would take the good news to Romanians. Due to the fact that we believe in unity in the Body of Christ, we are connected with other ministries and churches that share the same principles as us.
Through this blog, we would like you to get to know us better and keep you informed with everything that God is doing in and through the lives of the people in our Church and those involved in the missionary work in Romania.