Larry Bennett P.O. Box 71 Sterling, KS 67579
PASTOR DAN NGAGE, KENYA: Praise the most wonderful name of our Lord Christ Jesus. My heart rejoices as I reflect the fact that all of us share the abundance grace of Christ. I am sincerely grateful unto God for the wonderful work I believe you are doing and involved in during these last days, as you continually sharing the love of Christ with broken world and in the midst of the poorest community. (Isaiah 61:1) - a world which is desperately in need of the saving grace and power of our Lord Christ Jesus. It is with this in mind that I have always been in earnest prayers and in seeking the divine will of God to introduce me with you. I got saved in 1999, and God called me into this great work of the kingdom in the year 2001 and since then I have witnessed the mighty move of God as souls are saved. I appreciated and thank God for calling me among the poor, as poor man to serve the community. On behalf of the servants of God and believers here, most humbly request and appeal to you to allow us to partner together and build up the Lord’s Ministry here in Kenya, so that all of us may be joined with bond of Christ Jesus in the fulfillment of the Great Commission according to the word of Jesus in the book of (Mathew 28:18 – 20) We are therefore more ready to work with you and be directly connected with you in the promoting of the gospel of Christ in Africa. We are bears of the good tidings of great joy.
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am glad to connect with your team. I am pleased to see that an organizations such as the International Fellowship of Exchanged Life is coming into play. I also look forward to your magazine. The term "Exchanged Life" is used to denote an exchange of one's old life of living and operating in their own strength, for Christ's life. It also indicates an acceptance of the believer’s identity in Jesus Christ. The popular missionary preacher, J. Hudson Taylor, used the term in his personal testimony of how God made him a new man.
I have had an Exchanged Life Conference ministry for the past 23 years. As a result of some deep brokenness as a pastor, I was exposed to the message of the Cross through a conference at Grace Fellowship Atlanta in 1988. The message of Christ as life was so liberating and freeing that I have never been the same since. I later went through their internship program and eventually ended up on staff as a counselor and conference director. Soon after that, I launched out on my own and have been sharing the message of the Cross for over twenty years. I have conducted conferences throughout Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, and South America, as well as many churches throughout North America. To me, the message is still as fresh and liberating today as it was over 24 years ago. I am just as passionate about sharing the liberating message of the Cross as I was at my very first conference. I could never go back to performance-based Christianity. I’m sure you would agree.
Only if God so leads: You can help finance the Exchanged Life Global Initiative . The services we provide our partners are costly . We do not charge a fee for any of our services, including books, workbooks, booklets, audios, etc. Our work is all under the banner of: What then is my reward? That, when I preach the gospel, I may offer the gospel without charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel (1 Corinthians 9:18, NASB). All gifts are tax-deductible to the full extent allowed by law. It is our policy to meet the needs God lays before us, so that Christ is lifted up and the work of the Exchanged Life Global Initiative is advanced. (giving envelope enclosed) Online readers can donate by: clicking here
Online Donors Click Here IOM AMERICA | P.O. Box 71, Sterling, KS 67579 | 602-292-2985 | www.iomamerica.org | corporate@iomamerica.org Online readers can obtain additional copies of this newsletter by: clicking here.
I have been influenced by books written by Solomon, Nee, Gillham, Taylor, Sparks, Guyon, and others. I especially focus on the importance of brokenness. For me, it seems for someone to really understand the message of the Cross, there has to be a degree of brokenness. I even believe that the level of understanding of the message is directly related to the degree of brokenness and surrender. It seems to be especially true with Pastors. In addition to a domestic conference ministry, I have been heavily involved in international ministry throughout Eastern Europe, SE Asia, India, Iraq, Africa, and South America. I am continually amazed at the relevancy of the message of the Cross wherever you find genuine followers of Jesus. The Cross truly penetrates every language barrier. I pray for God’s blessings on your ministry and thank you for featuring ours. May you continue to experience the wonder of His grace, and the peace that comes from resting in His life.
Larry
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By Debbie Childers "For He (God) made Him who knew no sin (Jesus) to BE sin for us, that we might BECOME the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21, NASB, parentheses and bold added).
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Jane M. Phinney (KS): Associate Editor, contributing writer, IOM discipler, teacher, prayer team, and wife of thirty -five years to Dr. Phinney.
This may be the most important verse in the Bible. At least for me it seems to be. God made Jesus (the One who never sinned), to become sin for me, so that in Jesus, God could make me to become the righteousness of God. I had read that verse for years and even committed it to memory. I spoke of this verse often and used it to share how Jesus "bore" my sin so that I could "have" the righteousness of God. But one day it seemed God was prodding me to look at that verse again and carefully notice exactly what it said. After reading it slowly and pausing on each word, God showed me something I had not seen before.
Are you an Exchange Life writer? Meet Tim & Debbie Childers - two of our newest IFEL workers. The Childers reside in Florida.
Jesus didn’t just “bear” my sin for me. He “became” sin in my place so that God could pour out onto Jesus all of His wrath for my sin. And He did that for one reason; so that when I am in Christ, covered with the innocent Lamb of God, I could “become” the righteousness of God. I don’t just “have” the righteousness of God. I have “become” the righteousness of God. Oh, what a difference that makes. It’s not just a change in what I possess. It’s a change in what I am. I am righteous. I am now a saint and it’s all because of Jesus. It’s important that we fully understand our identity in Christ. Because of God’s transformation, we are no longer filthy sinners. We are holy and perfect saints. Why is the distinction between "having righteousness" and "being righteous" important? Why is knowing your identity crucial to the abundant life? It's because we always act out of who we believe we are!!! If we believe we are still sinners by our identity, then we will believe that the normal thing for us to do is to sin. We'll believe that we're just "human" and we just "can't help it." And our continual sin will prohibit our living in abundance. But once we understand that in Christ we have become holy and righteous saints, we will begin to see that sinning is no longer normal or natural for us. We'll understand the truth that God has enabled us by our new identities to live lives of victory over sin, which always results in abundance for living! Please take a few moments to visit our website: Click Here
Ron Akre: Phoenix, AZ (Business) Dr. Joseph Kezele: Phoenix, AZ (Ministry) John Mugabi: Uganda (International) John Lynch: Phoenix, AZ (Ministry) Brad Ghaster: Phoenix, AZ (Business) Professor PP Thomas: Kerala, India (Intl) Rob Cornelius: Clemont, FL (Youth) Wendell Smock: Glendale, AZ (Ministry) JJ Bukowski: Phoenix, AZ (Multimedia) Jeff Brugman: Phoenix, AZ (Business) Sky Parker: Phoenix, AZ (Men Ministry) Rick Kratz, CPA: Phoenix, AZ (Financials) James Bootsma: Des Moines, IA (Youth) Keith Holloway: Danville, CA (Ministry)
By Rob Cornelius
In today’s Christian sphere, there are a myriad of different worldviews. Actually, many materials branded as “Christian” aren’t even biblically based. Because we have grown up in a “Christian” culture, we tend to believe that many aspects of our culture indeed are Christian in nature. Sayings like, “God will never give you more than you can handle,” “God helps those who help themselves,” and “What doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger” are tossed around as sound Christian advice in many circles. The problem is, they aren’t biblical! My family and I have been greatly blessed by IOM and the Phinneys. There counsel, discipleship, and love have been invaluable to us because of the sound biblical foundation that underlies all that they say and do. When I am encouraged and/or rebuked by Dr. Phinney, I am done so with evidence in Scripture. His influence in my life has greatly shaped my worldview to a more biblical, Christ-centered perspective.
When Dr. Phinney asked me to write about why I support IOM, I had to take some time to order my thoughts. My first reaction was, we support IOM because we love the Phinneys and treasure them deeply in our hearts. We can’t wait to correspond with them through text, phone, and email and are always looking forward to the next time we can physically be around them. However, the reasoning behind our support for IOM is much deeper than that. We support IOM because they believe and teach the Word of God, they don’t water it down or sugarcoat it for approval by the masses. Their dedication to Truth has had a profound impact in our lives, and we want others to have that opportunity.
Kathy Hill (CO): Affectionately referred to as “Edikat,” Kathy is the Managing Editor of IOM America, publishing, prayer team, and donor. Jessi Phinney (KS): Executive Assistant to Dr. Phinney, production, bookkeeper, prayer team, IOM discipler, and daughter to Steve & Jane. Elizabeth Jones (CO): Associate Editor, reader, prayer team, and donor. Beth was an editor to Warren Wiersbe (author, previous pastor at The Moody Church, previous General Director and Bible teacher for Back to the Bible). Debbie Childers (FL): Contributing & staff writer, editorial reader, teacher, devoted mother, wife (Tim), and grandmother.
WHY WE SUPPORT IOM AMERICA
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Tammy Gough (Canada): Contributing & staff writer, editorial reader, wife (Stan) homemaker, and occasional primary/junior teacher . Bruce Carter “DOS” (GA): Contributing & staff writer, editorial reader, multi-media development, and bookstore management.
Scott Davis (GA): Contributing writer Jean Sealey (FL): Contributing writer Tom Price (GA): Contributing & web/writer Galen Jones (GA): Expository writer PP Thomas (India): Proofer, contributor Miriam Charles (India): Contributing writer Ronnie Mitchell (PA): Contributing writer Jose Jacobs (India): Contributing writer Are You An Exchange Life Writer: Sign Up Here