Allen Domelle @oldpathsjournal

Getting Closer to God x.com/i/broadcasts/1…

Learn the five things it means to draw closer to God oldpathsjournal.com/post/getting-c…

It is critical for you to have a right spirit so that the Holy Spirit can have free course to work through your life as He desires

There is a reason why so many people have very little hope, and the reason is because experience is what gives hope. If you have no experience, you don't have the hope that something is going to get better or that what you are doing will accomplish something. Now, where does experience come from? Experience comes from patience, and patience from tribulation. Now, this tribulation is the hardness of work. When you set out to do something, it takes hard work to accomplish it. That is the tribulation that God is talking about, and it takes patience not to give up on what you are trying to do. When you have the patience to keep going despite the hardness of what you are doing, you find accomplishment, and that accomplishment gives you experience. Now, the key to this whole thing is that today's experience that I've earned from being patient and working hard gives me hope for tomorrow when I start a new task. If I want hope for tomorrow, I cannot give up today because today gives me the experience that will give me hope for tomorrow. My friend, a simple truth is found in these verses, and that is that it does take hard work and patience to see something come to reality. I need experience if I'm going to have hope for tomorrow's attempts. Therefore, step out and do something today, and have the patience for it to become a reality. What you will find is that it will give you hope for when you set out to do something bigger tomorrow. Hope is what keeps us going. We could put it this way: hope helps us in tribulation to be patient. So, I must not quit today so that I don't quit tomorrow. This little thought will keep you going if you simply set out to do something today, because today's hard-working patience is what gives you hope from the experience that you gain today.

Meet George, a maintenance man I met out soul winning this morning. I was able to invite him to church, and when he told me what church he went to, I asked him if he knew 100% if he would go to Heaven. He told me he did not know for sure, and then said, "I am searching for the truth." I was able to take the Scriptures and show him the truth, and he accepted Christ as his personal Saviour #divineappointments #mswga

A Prayer Pattern x.com/i/broadcasts/1…

Learn the six things Hezekiah did that you can follow to get your prayers answered oldpathsjournal.com/post/a-prayer-…

Many people are unproductive because they waste the most productive time of their day which are the early morning hours

Agrippa made one of the great mistakes that many people make today, and that is that he was wasting his time listening to something that had nothing to do with him. He had already been told that Paul had appealed to Caesar, and at that moment should have been the moment that Agrippa said that he was not going to listen to Paul because there was nothing he could do. Just like Agrippa, so many people get themselves involved in situations that have nothing to do with them and then wonder why they live a frustrated life. There are a lot of things in life that might be interesting to listen to, but really have nothing to do with us. The only thing they do is cause frustration because we can't do anything about them because they are not within our purview of responsibilities. We hear about rumors or accusations on the internet, and we want to be the first ones to jump in and try to correct people when it is nothing within our purview. We see something going on in another ministry in our church and feel that we need to give our two cents' worth when we have no responsibility in that ministry, and the only thing that happens is that we cause problems in our church because now we have personality conflicts between two people because one person couldn't keep their nose out of it. My friend, one of the greatest days of your life will be when you choose not to insert yourself into someone else's business, whether it be by just reading about it or actually commenting on it. So many people have destroyed friendships and added unneeded stress and frustration to their lives because they could not stay out of another's business. We all should be busy enough doing what God has already given us to do that we don't have time to worry about what someone else is doing. Until something is in our area of responsibility, let's learn not to waste time, like Agrippa did, listening to it because there is nothing we can do about it, because the only thing it will do is lead to frustration. Most frustration could be resolved if we simply stayed in the areas of our responsibilities, areas where we have actual power to make a change.

Dealing with Loneliness in Serving God x.com/i/broadcasts/1…

Five things you can do to overcome loneliness while you are serving God oldpathsjournal.com/post/dealing-w…

Faithfulness shows one thing: it shows what is important to you, because whatever is important to you, you will be there for it

There is a very interesting phrase found in Acts 21:20: “Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are which believe.” These Jews who believed were those who had put their trust in Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour. Now, the question must be asked: How would they know that there were thousands of Jews who believed unless somebody counted? Let’s face it: if there were a few hundred, you might be able to estimate that there were a few hundred. But when the Bible says there were “many thousands,” somebody had to be keeping track of what God was doing. This number was not only known by Paul, but it was also known by the church in Jerusalem. My friend, counting is helpful in many ways. First, counting is helpful because it can encourage you. So many people are against counting, perhaps because they don’t have any results to count. However, counting can encourage you by showing that what you are doing is making a difference. When you see that more people are being reached, more people are being saved, more people are attending, and more people are growing, those numbers can encourage you to keep going. Second, counting helps you to improve. You will never know whether you are lacking in an area unless you are counting. What often happens is that when people are not doing well, they don’t want to look at the numbers. However, the numbers often reveal what is really going on. If attendance is declining, the numbers reveal it. If fewer people are being reached, the numbers reveal it. If a ministry is growing, the numbers reveal that as well. Counting helps you identify weaknesses so you can work to improve them. Third, counting is scriptural. Those who are against counting need to look at the Scriptures and realize how often God gives us numbers. There were 3,000 people saved on the Day of Pentecost. There were ten lepers who were healed. There were 5,000 who were fed with five loaves of bread and two fishes. Later in Jesus’ ministry, there were 4,000 who were fed. There is even an entire book of the Bible called Numbers. God counts! I know that the lazy, losing evangelist or preacher will often say that counting is filled with pride. If that were the case, then the apostles were filled with pride, and so was Christ. Numbers can be used to show us what God is doing and to challenge us to do more for Him. Let me encourage you not to allow the lazy, losing voices to keep you from counting. Anything that is growing, profitable, and thriving counts. Businesses count customers. Coaches count points. Farmers count their harvest. Shepherds count their sheep. Why would those involved in the greatest work on earth refuse to count the souls they reach and the people they influence? Always remember this: if we removed the numbers from the Bible, we would lose many of the great challenges that stir us to do something for God. Three thousand saved on Pentecost challenges us. Five thousand fed by Christ amazes us. The many thousands who believed in Jerusalem encourage us. God recorded those numbers for a reason. God counts because numbers tell a story. They show us what He has done, where we need to improve, and what He can still do through us.

Three Keys to Spiritual Growth x.com/i/broadcasts/1…

The three keys the Scriptures teach us to grow spiritually oldpathsjournal.com/post/three-key…

Take quit out of your choices, and the only choice you will have is to continue

One of the critical mindsets every believer needs to have is that which the heavenly creatures had in Ezekiel: “they went every one straight forward.” A believer who has this mindset to go straight forward will be a believer who does not easily stray from what God wants him to do. Let me explain these two words. First, you need to keep your focus straight. It is so easy to get sidetracked in this world by things that pull us away from that which is most important, and that is reaching the lost for Christ. Satan will be sure to put something in your way to sidetrack you if you live according to the flesh. When you live by the flesh, the things of God will seem unfulfilling; but when you live for God, the things of the world will become unappetizing. The difference between the two is that the world may seem appetizing at first when you have a worldly view, but it will leave you empty and heartbroken in the end. However, when you keep your focus on God, you will find that living for Him leads to a fulfilling life. You will never experience this fulfillment unless you keep your eyes looking straight forward. Second, you must always keep a forward motion. This is one of the keys to living by faith. A forward motion is always the right way to go. God's will never takes you laterally, nor backward, but it will always take you forward. You can be assured that you are doing the wrong thing when what you do causes you to go backward. However, you can be assured that if what you are doing forces you to go forward by faith, that you are making the right decision. I challenge you to develop a straight forward mindset. Keep your focus straight, and keep your life moving forward. Don't allow the world, the flesh, distractions, disappointments, or difficulties to turn your eyes to the side or cause you to retreat. Go straight forward! If you will keep going straight forward with God, you will come to the end of your life knowing that you stayed on course and fulfilled God's purpose for your life.

Job was blessed twice as much as before the trials came, because he... oldpathsjournal.com/post/the-twice…

Substituting a trust in your success instead of trusting God is when you will find your life on the wrong path

There are many superficial believers today who owe a great apology to the apostles and to the early church. Peter and the apostles were imprisoned for preaching the Gospel of Christ, and then it says about them that they rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for the name of Christ. Compare this to the believer of today. What a sad commentary on the believers we have today who miss church for superficial reasons. Unfaithfulness to the house of God does not bother many believers, as they are so worldly and their hearts are so cold toward God that it doesn't really matter what the preacher or the Word of God says; they're going to live their own way. Their excuses for missing church are nothing more than lies to appease their worldly conscious. The fact that the apostles were willing to go to prison for Christ's sake, and believers today can't even find themselves faithful to church services shows how far the church has slipped. What a travesty that churches cancel Sunday night services or move them to earlier in the afternoon because they just don't want to be inconvenienced by having to go back to church at nighttime. What a travesty that preachers are willing to be on the platform with compromisers and would rather have a meeting than take a stand and say, "I cannot preach with someone who has compromised." We have preachers who are more interested in having their names and pictures in conference photos than they are with the truth that they supposedly preach about. We could go on with illustrations of the superficiality of many believers today. We wonder why the church has little to no impact, and the reason why is because we are unwilling to pay the same price that the apostles paid in the book of Acts. My friend, does it bother you when you miss church, or are you so wrapped up in yourself and your agenda that it does not matter that others before you paid a dear price for you to even have church? Preacher, does it bother you to preach with people who have compromised? Until we get back to being willing to pay a price for the cause of Christ, we will never make an impact on our world as the church did in the book of Acts.