We had an awesome time this past Sunday, December 13, 2009, in the children’s ministry at the River at Tampa Bay Church.  Children and their parents were getting saved, healed, and set free!  It was nothing like your average children’s church.  The children were laughing and having the time of their lives as they learned a valuable message.  Joe Manno did an awesome job teaching the children about Jesus’ death and resurrection.  His presentation was energetic and captivated the attention of the youthful audience.  The presence of God was so thick in that building.  Each word that came out of Joe’s mouth was anointed and as a result over 170 children accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. 

Not only did the children and parents get saved, but hundreds of less fortunate families received toys and food that they otherwise would not have had.

I have been hearing testimonies from our bus ministry that the children and their parents had totally different attitudes when the got on the bus to go home than they did when they got on the bus earlier that morning to go to church.  You could literally see the joy of the Lord on their faces.  This is not because they had received a toy or a box of food.  It is because they had received food for their souls and a gift from heaven.  This is something they can share with anyone they come in contact with.  People will want to know what they have!

I have also heard testimonies from our food ministry that the families who received a box of food were ministered to on sowing and reaping.  These important life principles were instilled in them so that they might be a blessing to someone in their community which, in turn, could result in them sharing the gospel with them as well.

This is what Revival Ministries is all about:  lighting the fire in the hearts of God’s people to win the lost.

Rachel L

There aren’t a lot of things better than exercise to keep every one of us feeling, thinking, and looking more youthful than we are. For just about ten years, my other half and I lived in a home in Dallas, Texas, found about a quarter of a mile from the respected Cooper Aerobics Center that was set up by my longtime chum and surgeon, Dr Kenneth Cooper. Not only did I enjoy the fantastic facilities—especially the one-mile track that runs thru those stunning grounds, around a lake where ducks and swans make their home—but every time we might drive by, we’d see ladies and men of every age zealously walking and running, lifting weights, and using the gear. Not occasionally, we’d see smiling people who were in their 80s and even their 90s faithfully staying at it. By the point we meet him in this section of the Scriptures, he’d reached the age of 85.

I’m still as powerful today as I was in the day Moses sent me” ( Joshua 14:10-11 ). He was referring to the time when Moses sent the spies into the land of Canaan to test things out before the Hebrews attacked the Guaranteed Land to make claims it as their own. So, about forty five years had elapsed since all that occurred, and Caleb was declaring how healthy he was. The very last thing Caleb needed to do was find a rocking chair and kick back. That is the sort of can-do angle and resolution that keeps us healthy for 85 years.

I’m going to tell you without hesitation that one of my major goals in life is to become adult as I age.

A worthy etching on a gravestone would be : “Here lies a person who kept growing as he kept aging.” Growing up and growing old need to stroll hand in hand.

Never doubt it : maturing is a slow, difficult process.

Job accomplished it ; he reached that goal.

No wonder we read that he died an old man and full of days. He lived the remainder of his 140 years full of fervour and zeal. We are able to view it as an intrusion, a concern, or we are able to see it as a chance to reply in particular obedience to God’s will—that craggy virtue James calls “endurance.”. It’s a choice in the middle of our suffering to do what God has asked us to do, whatever it is, and for so long as He asks us to do it.

As Oswald Chambers wrote, “To choose suffering makes little sense at all ; to select God’s will in the middle of our suffering makes all of the sense in the world.”. Where are you today? Where is your journey leading you? More importantly, which option have you chosen? Are you viewing your trial as a concern or an opportunity? Try seriously not to forget the lessons Job teaches us about ourselves. And, rather than simply reading about the life of Job, begin living that sort of life. That makes all of the sense in the world, doesn’t it?

I want to supply many pointers on how to remain young. Spend a little time with folk who talk about events and concepts instead of sitting around a store talking about folk and how sorry this young generation has become. No-one wants to be around a crotchety old person who sees only the clouds and talks only about stormy weather.

I like being around older folk who still see the sunny aspect of life.

And while I am at it, give up addressing each ache and discomfort. Give up talking about how feeble you are getting and how others will need to do this or that for you. There are folk all around you who could use an inspiring word, an affirming note, a telephone call that asserts, “I love you and believe in you, and I’m praying for you.” So go there. The 5th is clear : Your God isn’t dead, keep serving and looking for Him. The Lord Jesus Christ is never-ending and ever important. Continue to enjoy a little time alone with your Lord. You have lived long enough to know that there’s no another true than the Lord Himself. Continue cultivating a significant relationship with Him.

I only wish for you a full life, like Job’s, marked not by living happily for ever ( an impossibility ), but by being really satisfied, satisfied, challenged, helpful, godly, balanced, and joyous.