Harvestchurch Blog

Livin’ All Out!

admin — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 23:04:53 +0000

All I’ve ever known to do as a believer in Christ for the last 25 years of my life is to live it all out for Him! I got radically “saved” and from that point on I have never had a desire to back to my old lifestyle. Goodness man, what in the world would I want to go back to that garbage when “in Christ” my life have has a true destiny! And not only why would I want to go back, but why in the world would I want to live my Christian life as some kind of a Christian wimp who is half in and half out. Jesus went all in for me so you better believe I’m going to do the same for Him and I’m going to teach others to live that way too! I choose to be a believer that isn’t playing in the world… I choose to be a believer that is ALL IN for Christ!

Integrity

admin — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 21:06:21 +0000

The word Integrity means there is no duality between what you believe and how you live. The opposite of Integrity would be Hypocrisy… “Integrity is not only the way one thinks but the way one acts”

Integrity is not wearing a cross around your neck, then coming to church, acting like a Christian, and then going home and being a mean or abusive husband, a disrespectful wife, an uninterested parent, a rebellious teen, or a “worldly-mouthed” believer. That’s duality…hypocrisy… but not Integrity.

Integrity means that you don’t hold or profess you’re a Christian, but in your job you do a bad product, your rebellious against your boss, you gossip, you act unethically, you cheat the company on time, and you lie…that’s hypocrisy. You cannot be truly successful in life when you are disrespected by the living because you have no integrity.

If you don’t have Integrity it will affect you and your ability to lead and to minister. Proverbs 10:9 says “He who walks in integrity walks securely, But he who perverts his ways will be found out.”

If you don’t have Integrity it will affect those closest to you. It is awfully difficult for a woman to respect a man who will profess Christ on Sunday but live in a mean, cutting way for the other 6 days. It is awfully tough for a child to live in a home where there is duplicity…where he or she is told to honor the God they hear about but what they see is the opposite. If parents have a life of flesh at home they will make it so difficult on their kids.

If you don’t have Integrity you’re also going to affect God. God cannot truly use a man or woman who lacks Integrity…see also Samson. God is slow in judgments but He will eventually take him out.

Fabulous Fake or Pressure-Tested Diamond?

admin — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 23:37:32 +0000

If there is one thing I’ve learned in my 23 years of being a follower of Christ is that there will be pressure… pressure to give up and pressure to give in. Give up what and give in to what? Give up on trying to follow after Christ whole-heartedly, give up on church, give up on trusting God completely, give up on giving to God, give in to the flesh, give in to the call of the world, give in to the lust of the eye and the pride of life. Sometimes we in our human mind think the pressure to live this life for Christ is too much. But, can I encourage you in something… there will never be more pressure than you can handle with the help and strength of the Holy Spirit! (1 Cor. 10:13)

One of the big differences between the pressure-tested diamond and the Fabulous Fake (the cubic Zirconia) is how they were formed. The diamond is the hardest natural material known to man and the CZ (cubic Zirconia) although hard is nowhere near the hardness of the diamond. The CZ is man-made while the diamond is formed through exposure to HIGH PRESSURE! Yes, what makes it so hard has alot to do with the time, heat and super high pressure that it has to endure. The high pressure process it goes through is what can cause a flawless 1 carat diamond to possibly cost about $4000 compared to the fabulous fake of the same size which can purchased for around $10. The time, heat and high pressure is what turns it into the valuable gem that it is.

The body of Christ needs more pressure-tested diamonds, and it needs to start with you and me. Fabulous fakes are like those in the Parable of the Soils in Matthew 13:18-22. They hear the Word and receive it but because he or she has no firm root it falls away because of persecution, affliction… PRESSURE. There will be pressure in being a true follower of Christ, and the pressure won’t stop. But, you can handle it. You have too! I have seen too many just give up because of the pressure. They stop coming to church, they stop giving, they stop serving, they stop praying, they stop pursuing God. The pressure buckles their knees and they give in. But I am hear to tell you that you can handle it. No, not by yourself, but with the power, strength, and wisdom of the Holy Spirit within you you can handle it, and not only handle it, but because of the pressure become a pressure-tested diamond that brings great glory to God!

Fabulous fake or Pressure-Tested Diamond? I know which one I choose. Yes, and I know what has to go along with the forming of a “diamond for the Kingdom.” But, I would rather deal with the pressure knowing that it will bring great glory to God and His Kingdom than to be a fabulous fake. What about you?

God Bless and may you walk as a true follower of Christ, one who doesn’t give in or give up!

Pastor Brad Tuttle

www.bradtuttleministries.com

“Encouraging others to live all-out for Christ!”

RELEASE THE JUNK!

admin — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 15:36:12 +0000

Merry Christmas everyone! Yes, I’m back to getting out the BTM Word of Encouragement. It’s been a little while since I have written you all, and I’ve had alot of people ask me when I was going to start again. I’ve been extremely busy with the process of planting The Harvest Church here in Highland Village and with all that is involved in this great journey. But it’s time again!

And that brings me to what area I wanted to encourage you in, and it has to do with making sure we release those ‘things,’ those areas in our life that are constraining, confining, imprisoning, burdening or oppressing us before we walk into 2011.

For me, I choose to release, with the help of the Holy Spirit, any part of me that tries to make the church successful by my human abilities, by my human work. In other words, the “success” of The Harvest Church International has nothing to do with me and my abilites, but it has everything to do with God building the house. And it’s the same with your business if your a Christian businessman or businesswoman. Psalm 127:1 tells me that “Unless the Lord builds the house, it’s builders labor in vain.” I can’t do this great task, but God can! Sure, He will use me and my gifts and abilities to manage His work, and He will use the gifts and abilities of those who are a part of the church to help with building too. But when He is let to be the One in total charge of the project and I take the role of manager then something beautiful happens… God’s perfect will is done. Man, that really excites me for 2011 because I know that great and awesome things are in store because I’ve turned in all over to Him. Have you?

Now what about you? What do you need to release from your life before you enter 2011? Is it fear? Fear of what the future holds. Is it doubt in God’s ability to meet your needs? Is it worry? Is it always carrying the burden and anxiety of “Is everything going to work out?” “Are we going to make it financially?” “Is the business going to get through this?” “Am I ever to to feel better?” What is it that you need to dump in the spiritual trash can, and leave there, and NOT pick up again?

RELEASE that stuff! Start that process today. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you with this. Isn’t that what He’s there for? Hey, do what I tell the folks in our church CONSTANTLY… TRUST GOD! Release the fear, worry, anxiety, stress and TRUST in God. Remember, if your giving, serving, being faithful and obedient in the things of God you can most assuredly bank of the verse, “And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”

End your 2010 Releasing The Junk!

God bless, Merry Christmas and Happy new Year!

Pastor Brad Tuttle

www.bradtuttleministries

Worship Should Come Naturally

admin — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 16:27:57 +0000

When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. 11 After coming into the house they saw the Child with Mary His mother; and they fell to the ground and worshiped Him. Then, opening their treasures, they presented to Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. (Matt. 2:10-11)

As I sit here this morning and ponder these verses what I see is a reaction to the Child that seems natural. These Magi understood who this Babe was. They knew from divine OT prophetic revelation that this was the Messiah. They knew whose presence they were in even if it be just a babe. This was The King, The Deliverer, The One who has come to set people free! And their reaction to Him was one of falling to the ground and worshipping, and then giving gifts.

I want to encourage all of us to get a fresh understanding of who Jesus Christ is in our lives. We need to always understand that He is the One who came to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10) of whom I was one and you were as well. But we must determine in our hearts to react to that understanding properly. With this kind of understanding–the truth of knowing that Jesus Christ has brought salvation to our lives–worship should come naturally! It came naturally to the Magi and Jesus had yet to die on the cross and rise again. But they knew even with only pieces of the prophetic picture. For us, we know all of it. We have the truth of the New Testament painting the full picture for us of His birth, death, burial, and resurrection.

But with this knowledge are we worshipping Him the way we should? Has this all become just a bit “common” to us now that we have been in the relationship for a few years now? God forbid it should ever get that way within our hearts. We should always, all year long, have within our hearts, the attitude of all-out worship for our Savior, God and King! When was the last time we fell on the ground and worshipped Him? It’s going to happen when you see Him in glory, so why should we wait until then. We have Him with us right now. We have Him blessing us with provision, peace, hope, joy, and strength right now, every day, and even today! Hey, maybe it’s a bit intimidating for you to do it in church with all those people there, but what about in your room at home? What about when we get by ourselves sometime this week? What if we just took a moment to ponder the awesomeness of our Jesus and dropped down to our knees and worshipped Him with an all–out grateful heart that releases all the love and praise that He deserves. How about it? After all, if He is to us who we say He is, then it should come naturally!

And about the gifts they gave Him–let’s give Him the gift of our total obedience. Let’s give Him the gift of living our lives passionately for Him. Let’s give Him the gift of all of us, not just 90% but all 100% of us! I really believe that if we do what should come naturally to us starting this week, not only we will we have an incredible day and week, but our entire 2010 and will be more amazing than we could ever imagine.

God Meets Our Spiritual Needs

admin — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 16:31:05 +0000

Psalm 23:1-3a… The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want. ²He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. ³ He restores my soul;

David wants you to know in Psalm 23 that God has more than enough! David says I want you to understand something about God… He’s our Shepherd.

Let me tell you why sheep need shepherds:

Sheep need shepherds because they are not the brightest of all animals. They don’t even know how to walk in the right direction many times. David understood this because he was a shepherd, but when it came to his own life he was a sheep. He understood his total dependency on God and he understood it for a lot of different reasons. And as God being our Shepherd, He can meet all of our needs. The first need that God will meet as your Shepherd is your Spiritual Need.

Read VV. 2-3a…² He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. ³ He restores my soul;

There are those people reading this today who need their soul restored…the issues of life have drained you. Whatever it is you’re drained, maybe even too drained to pray. You’re dealing with a soul that needs restoring. You’ve grown spiritually weary and no matter how hard you look you can’t seem to find God. When dryness of soul has set in…David said when that happens look for God to make you lie down. After you’ve done everything to fix the problem of your dryness and nothing works…He makes you lie down.

He creates a situation to make you lie down in green pastures, and then He’ll take you for a walk by still water. God will allow you to get to a place where your self-sufficiency isn’t working in order to make you rest on His sufficiency. He wants you to get to that place where you know deeply in your heart that His sufficiency never has insufficient funds. He wants us to KNOW His Sufficiency! He wants to make us LIE DOWN in Him because He’s the green pastures and the still water…He’s the place of spiritual renewal.

What’s the result of lying down on green grass, and walking beside quiet, refreshing waters? Total dependency on Him and no dependency on myself because all my efforts have fallen short.

He concludes with the summary of his point with the first line in V.3… He restores my soul. To restore means “to repair, renovate, or return to a former condition.” He does it in my soul…that’s where I live…my soul is the real me. So, instead of living under discouragement He restores me to a place of living under encouragement. Instead of living under defeat He restores me to a place of living under victory. Instead of living under loss He restores me to a place of living under gain.Notice it’s not some general or some physical restoration that is being talked about. He restores MY SOUL!

It’s when you are in His rest that you’re being renewed, not when you’re panicking, not when you’re trying to feverishly work it out, not when you’re stressing about it. That’s what God wants to do with all of us… spiritual rejuvenation.

Today you might be weary in your faith. You might be worn out and you’re discouraged. Maybe you’re feeling a spiritual dryness. You need to succumb to God’s making you lie down…to His leading you beside STILL waters of refreshment…. resting in Him…letting Him restore back to you your spiritual vitality. He’s your Shepherd and He will meet your spiritual needs!

God bless you all! Have a soul restored week.

Freedom From Fear

admin — Fri, 21 May 2010 14:13:35 +0000

There is a lot we could be afraid of, but God doesn’t want us to owned by fear. The Bible talks alot about fear and one of my favorite times is found in an account that we can read about in Matthew 25:22-33. It’s the account of the disciples being sent out in the boat by Jesus right after they had witnessed Him feeding the 5,000. He then tells them to “Immediately” get in the boat and travel to the other side of the lake. But a storm rises up and seems to put them in harm’s way and it’s a big enough storm to bring these seasoned fishermen much fear.

In this story we see some important principles about dealing with fear in your storm:

Principle #1: V.22…“Jesus has put me here.” It was while they were doing what Jesus told them to do that they ran into a fearful situation that they desired freedom from. They were in the perfect will of God and also in a perfect storm. In other words, obeying God can sometimes lead to tough sailing.

Principle #2: “Jesus is praying for you.” V.23 tells us He went up the mountain to pray and He was there alone. This is called Intercession. Jesus’ full-time job right now sitting at the right hand of the Father is to intercede for me and you. Why does Jesus need to intercede for you and me? Jesus is fully God and He is fully Man. He knows what God is talking about and what Man is going through.

Principle #3: “Jesus will come to you.” V.25… “And in the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea.” He’s praying for them, now He’s coming to them walking on the water. Wasn’t the water the big problem here? Jesus came to them “walking ON their problem!” Jesus came to them on top of the very thing that was causing them fear.

You’re in a tough situation…hang in there because He knows you’re there, and that the waves and wind are beating up your boat. Hang in there because He’s praying for you and your situation right now that you won’t lose your faith. Hang in there because He’s coming to you in a way you may have never seen Him before, and He’s walking on top of your problem!

Ultimately, Jesus wants you to discover that He is the Son of God and bigger than you ever thought…bigger than any storm you may be in, even when you’re in a situation that is bringing you fear. He wants to bring you Freedom From Fear!

Truly Seeking

admin — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 15:21:20 +0000

“But seek first His Kingdom, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you.” (Matthew 6:33)

Most people, or should I say alot of people seem to measure earthly success in terms of wealth, recognition, power, status, and achievement. There is nothing wrong with acquiring any of these things if they are the outcome of honoring God in all we do. But the trouble with using these as success indicators is that when they become our priority they can become an expression of our own ego. What this ends up doing is it keeps us from truly connecting with what is most important in God’s eyes. And I would like to think that every true believer that is reading this has as their main desire that of doing what is most important in God’s eyes, at least we should be thinking this way.

This bring us to our verse. I remember being in Hawaii many years ago doing ministry and I had my daughter with me on this particular trip. I had gone into a store to try on some clothes and she had managed to slip away out of my sight, and it was just a moment that I wasn’t looking and she was gone. I will never forget the intense panic I felt through my whole being. It is a feeling that words cannot describe. There was only thing on my mind and that was seeking after her. When you learn what the word “seeking” really means you will see that it is much more than just “looking around” for someone, in this case my child. It carries in its meaning the intensity of looking for a lost child; the all-consuming intensity of looking for that child with every ounce of energy in your body; consumed with looking; spending every moment searching until that child is found, which by the grace of God I did.

Here in our verse the word means, “to deliberately strive and desire something as an act of the will.” It is the Greek word zeteo. Inits context it implies putting your whole life at the disposal of God’s rule and will so that nothing takes greater priority. It carries the idea that that seeking God is an activity of the whole being, not simply an intellectual or religious pursuit. It is nothing less than a 100 percent effort. It means, “Give it all you got!”

So our verse it telling us that whenever we consciously commit ourselves in utter abandonment to God’s will, He faithfully cares for our every need. Jesus is telling us that God knows exactly what we need and we can have every confidence that He will provide for us when we totally surrender to Him. This my friends is the essence of a life in Christ. We are asked to seek one thing–God’s reign. Our needs are not first on the list. The real goal is God’s kingdom. When we make God’s reign the single focus of life, an amazing thing happens. God takes care of the rest.

2010 has just started. Why not make this the year when you truly start seeking after God! Take the word as truth. Seek Him this year with intensity and watch what He can do for you.

God Bless you all as you begin today to seek first His kingdom with every bit of your being.

Doing Things For Others

admin — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 23:03:04 +0000

Really, I mean really, what is more enjoyable than giving to others whether it be food, clothes, something to drink, or the message of God’s redemptive love. Giving the gift of the message of God’s redemptive love, i.e. the Gospel message, is so awesome! I have never stopped doing it from the first day I became a believer in Christ, and will never stop. But as much as I enjoy that aspect of helping others, I really love the action part of it too…the giving of the food, the giving of the clothes, and so on. It is so wonderful to follow Christ’s Words in Matt. 25 re: when you do it to the least of these we are doing it to Him. And not to do it to be seen by men, or applauded by men, but to do it because it’s in your heart as a believer. I so want this attitude to pervade the great church I pastor… for it to fill the hearts of all those who call THCI their home. To do it because it is in our hearts to do it. To do it because our love for people and for those that are “the least of these” is so full and so desirous to be a blessing to others. So this is what we are doing this season, and will continue to do throughout the year, believing that we will make a mighty impact on the lives of others beyond what we could imagine in 2010! Hey, I just don’t want to meet on Sunday for a service I want to penetrate society! It’s not all about us… it’s all about helping others.

It’s Monday

admin — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 13:11:35 +0000

I’m up, and in my office looking out the window at the rain falling. It’s still not light yet, the days are longer, it’s wet outside, and so on. So, what do I do regarding all this type of stuff that seems to affect people’s lives so much. Do I walk around all day without joy because it’s Monday? Do I live my life today without enthusiasm because it’s raining again? “No” to both of those questions.

Come on, I’m a believer in Christ and because of that I don’t live my life and allow my life and my attitude to be affected by these kinds of circumstances. I allow my life and my attitude to be affected today by the power of God’s Word, and the Word of God tells me to “Rejoice” in every circumstance. It tells me that the joy of the Lord is my strength. It tells me that I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength. It lets me know that the precious Holy Spirit lives in me to give me the ability and strength to overcome a bad attitude. It tells me that I can make the decision, no matter what today looks like through my earthly eyes, to live out today with hope, joy, peace, purpose, and a greatly encouraged attitude. It’s up to you today as a true believer in Christ to choose how you will face this day, and with the power of the Holy Spirit available to you, you CAN make this a great day in the Lord! So start right now.