At Destiny Church our vision is "Loving People" and a big part of that is helping people find their next step. If you are seeking Christian counseling/guidance, here is a list of potential resources. Remember God's BEST is yet to come in your life - be expecting it!
Pastor Mike


Marriage & Family:
Steve Roll – Restoration Ministries 918.459.9088
www.srrestore.org

Brent & Janice Sharpe – Life Connections 918.496.9588
www.lifeconnectioncounseling.com

Jayne Bowman – Real Solutions 918.289.7827
www.real-solutions@cox.net

Destiny Church - 918.259.9080
feedback@destinychurch.com
*Provided for members

Financial:
John Ransdell 918.362.5228
www.johnransdellministries.com

Dell Hughes – Financial Planner 918.697.8082
dell@wilsec.com

Jeffrey D. Hill – Business Manager 918.259.9080
j.hill@destinychurch.com

You’ve likely heard of the book, “The Five Love Languages” - did you know that God knows what your love language is? In fact He knows your love language even better than you – and often it is demonstrated by His favor (His special affections unique to each of His kids).
Understanding, and knowing, God’s favor in your life is a game changer. In the Old Testament, David believed that experiencing and knowing God’s favor was literally the difference between life and death.

Psalm 30:-5-7 “For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning. When I felt secure, I said, ‘I will never be shaken.’ O LORD, when you favored me, you made my mountain stand firm; but when you hid your face, I was dismayed.”

God’s favor is just one of the ways He supernaturally demonstrates His love and grace for you. Often favor comes in unique, creative, unsuspecting and even humorous ways. Knowing God’s favor changes everything… think about it like this:

- Understanding God’s favor changes the way you see yourself and others.
- God’s favor is one of the most powerful, yet often unrealized, ways God makes a path for his
people in this lifetime.
- God’s favor creates divine doorways in every area and every day of our life.
- God’s favor has the power to undo the damage fear has imposed on our future.

As you go about your day today, here’s something to think about: “God makes you better looking.”

I’ll explain.

One of the coolest Hebrew words in the Old Testament is "טוֹב". In English it translates to “towb” and is pronounced "tobe". It's this supernatural mark “of favor” that God's puts on all of His kids. It means "stunningly good-looking and/or beautiful." In other words, putting on God makes you a “spiritual hottie” – Ok, maybe that’s not the best way to put it. However, for those who are in Christ, our new identity comes with a beauty that can only come from God. When we invite Jesus into our world, it makes the rest of our world, including ourselves, much better looking.

So the next time you’re wondering what to wear, I’d suggest starting by putting on God’s favor. Don’t believe me? Just try it on for size.

[Example of “towb” in scripture: 1Samuel 2:26 “And the boy Samuel continued to grow in stature and in favor with the LORD and with men.”]

What? Does God really hate religion? Well, if we were to do a survey of scripture, it would become clear it is the one thing that God hates above all others. God hates religion… or at least in the way it has been predominately defined throughout history. For those who associate God with religion, this can be confusing. I’ll explain.

Our English word was derived from the Latin word religon, meaning “bind up.” So the question is does God want His people bound up in rules, regulations and ritualistic patterns? The answer is absolutely not. Modern religion is oppressive control attempting to bind something good to anything that is not. Mark 10:18 makes it clear that no one is good except for God. When we take God “the only Good” and tie it to anything else like effort, works, human rules, etc. we “crush people with unbearable religious demands." Matthew 23:4 NLT

Christianity was never meant to be a religion but rather this incredible relationship: a spiritual life that is the result of the risen Christ in the heart of His people. That’s why people will often hear believers saying things like, “Christianity is a relationship, not a religion.”

Religion, the kind that leads to bondage, has a horrific byproduct as well. This side-effect can be absolutely devastating to the children of God. It’s called legalism. Legalism is the dangerous belief that a person can, by his or her own efforts, do something to obtain or retain his or her salvation.

In Matthew 23, Jesus erupts and opens a huge can of whoop on the religious leaders peddling legalism. In this passage Jesus outlines a handful of things He hated that the religious leaders were doing, and the effects it was having on His people. Have you ever been caught in any of these traps?

1. Legalism
Placing burdens on people and refusing to do nothing to help them.
Matthew 23:4

2. Piety
Personal acts of religion with the only motive to be seen by others.
Matthew 23:5

3. The desire to be recognized and rewarded publically for acts of religion.
Matthew 23:6-11

4. Customized faith
Living with loopholes and hypocrisies so as to rationalize cherished sins (specifically money). Matthew 23:16-22

5. Wrong focus
Attention on the minor things and therefore forgetting what is most important. Matthew 23:23

6. Living to look righteous
While never doing anything that is really righteous.
Matthew 23:27–28

7. Make a show
How much you know, or have of the Bible so as to belittle and control others. Matthew 23:29–31

At the beginning of each year, the congregation of Destiny Church takes the first three weeks of the New Year and sets something "natural" in pursuit of something "supernatural".

Each Destiny member is challenged to set something aside out of his or her daily routine and "fast" it as we agree in prayer.

We’ll talk more about this in the final weeks of 2011, but here’s the heart behind our church-wide fast:

1. Every year we begin by praying for the lost (those who don't know Christ) and the exiled (those the Bible refers to as being seperated from God).
We are praying for our families, friends, coworkers, and leaders who have been separated from God to come home to Him.

2. Our specific prayer for 2012 is for God to mend broken hearts and broken relationships.

Starting in January at Destiny, we will begin a new series called just that: “Mend”.
The word mend is from the ancient Hebrew word “tawfar”, which meant "to stitch or repair two pieces that have been ripped apart."

Can you think of anyone whose life or relationship has been torn apart?

So why do we have a church fast every year?
Throughout the Bible, fasting is presented as a spiritual discipline and as an act of voluntary humility. It was often accompanied with confession and repentance. As a church, we are in pursuit of bringing people to Christ, helping them find their next step, and teaching them to do the same. Using Daniel as a template, I challenge each church member to set something aside for the first 21 days of the year and commit themselves to prayer and the pursuit of what God loves most: Bringing people to back to Him!

Here is a list of some of the most commonly fasted things:
Pop, carbonated drinks, other drinks besides water, television, computer, video games, internet, sweets, candy, chocolates, fast food, shopping, using credit cards,lotteries/gambling, red meats, gossiping, Facebook, bad-mouthing, judging, being critical, cursing, tobacco products, alcoholic beverages, naps, sleeping in, pushing snooze... and the list goes on.

I am so excited about what God is doing in the days to come!