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Following are links to websites that are special to me...and
I hope will be encouraging to you.
I served on staff at Christ Life Ministries, a discipleship
counseling ministry headquartered in Hendersonville, North Carolina from 2000 to 2007. I loved spending each Thursday
in Hendersonville discipling precious people one-on-one and fellowshipping with my friends at Christ Life Ministries.
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| Photo by Gregg Gibbons at the June 2005 Grace Life Conference in Simpsonville, SC. |
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The Association of Exchanged Life Ministries (AELM) is an
association of discipling ministries across the country and in other countries, encouraging each other in serving the body
of Christ. Journey in Christ, Inc. is applying for membership to AELM.
Click on the following link to read a short article that clarifies
the terms "The Grace Life" and "The Exchanged Life." Then read the letter from Ian Thomas that adds very helpful insights.
Clarification of "Grace Life" and "Exchanged Life"
Now click on the following link to a special letter to me
dated December 19, 2001 from Ian Thomas, founder of the international Torchbearers ministry. It is a gracious and profound
letter that nurtures me and changed my life even more. His living and loving counsel to me is what is on my heart of
how to counsel others... counsel that edifies and encourages...counsel that delivers true hope. Major Thomas well notes that other names for the "Christ Life" (such as Grace Life and The Exchanged
Life) can be confusing. Major Thomas also keeps centered on the living Christ as he wrote "What we are in Christ is
relatively unimportant, compared to what He is in us!"
Letter from Ian Thomas
.
Lifetime Guarantee Ministries (a member of AELM) has some
the best discipling materials in the world. This ministry has had a profound impact on my life. The book Lifetime
Guarantee by the founder of this ministry Bill Gillham, is a special foundational book. The book Grace in Ungracious
Places by Pres Gillham, son of Bill, has ministered deeply to me and Joy in these past few years...Pres, like Joy, experiences
chronic pain. Following is a link to Chapter 5 of that book entitled Pain, the Black Knight.
Grace in Ungracious Places
.
Dudley Hall from Successful Christian Living Ministries out
of Texas is a down-to-earth communicator of the majestic message that the majestic Christ is alive now. His book Grace
Works is a foundation book and his four-cassette message simply entitled "Grace" is simply wonderful. In the midst
of a trend of many popular books written about the future end-times, Dudley's book Glad to be Left Behind boldly
and graciously shines as a beacon of the transforming truth that Christ is our hope of glory now, and in what I call the forever
now (Colossians 1:27).
Here is a link to sample Dudley's article entitled "So That," an article that
well communicates God's greatest purpose for us (PDF file).
j
The Boys Home of the South in Belton, South Carolina is a
home for 40+ boys who have no home of their own. Most of these boys have experienced deep rejection in their young lives.
Almost 3 years ago, the Boys Home director asked me to come share with the boys the "grace" of which I testify in my newsletters.
God brought together a special team of volunteers, and every Tuesday we journey to the Boys Home to lead a chapel service
and fellowship/recreation time. The chapel was built 30 years ago through a donation from Jim "Gomer Pyle" Nabors.
The boys have grown to now lead in praying, singing, and sharing their hearts publicly. The boys are being nurtured
to see that they are valuable and have a something valuable to share with others...all by the grace of God.
The boys, like everyone in the world, are desperately seeking an identity in a
confusing world with mixed messages. Following is a link to a bookmark (PDF file) I made for the boys to encourage them
to see true identity is from Christ through His cross and resurrection.
Who Am I bookmark
Following is a booklet describing the Boys Home ministry (PDF
file).
Boys Home ministry booklet
Christmas bookmark
Following is a skit entitled "Mine Field" that
was used to engage the boys during a chapel service to see awesome truths. I believe all youth groups would be blessed
with this skit.
Mine Field Youth Skit
Compassion International is a long-time ministry to children
around the world. Joy and I have sponsored a young boy in South America for six years through Compassion.
We exchange letters several times a year with Jean...his letters are so precious and so pure. He is growing in the grace
and knowledge of Jesus, just as over 78,000 children came to start growing in Jesus last year alone.
Here are photos of Jean at 7 years old and currently at 12-1/2 years old.
I studied at Luther Rice Seminary from 1989
through 1997, while working full-time as an engineer in Greenville, South Carolina. It was at Luther Rice Seminary where
I first heard in my heart the living message of Galatians 2:20 through pastor Stephen Olford. Stephen Olford mentored
a young Billy Graham 1946.
Luther Rice Seminary focuses on "training
people in ministry" in contrast to the traditional approach of "training people for ministry." This seminary seeks to
equip people where they are already planted as a minister of Christ, whether a person ministers in a church, in a job, at
home, etc. The seminary provided a way for me to complete a M.Div. course of study while working full-time as an engineer.
After being nurtured in the message of Christ
as life by Stephen Olford for several years at the seminary, my heart was prepared to be introduced to discipleship counseling
at this seminary...and my life was completely transformed. The basics of these courses are also taught by Christ Life
Ministries and other AELM offices as part of our ministry in training people as disciplers of the great good news of Christ.
This is a link to Stephen Olford's ministry website.
His ministry is mentoring Christians in expository studying, teaching, and preaching of the Word of God. This focuses
on "exposing" the true meaning of the Bible in the context of the original writer, in contrast to "imposing" your own personal
viewpoint of the meaning for your own selfish purposes. However, it is more than an intellectual exposition of the Scriptures,
it is trusting Christ to reveal the truths to and through you. This is the illumination of the Holy Spirit. Jesus said in John 6:63 that "The words that I speak to you are
spirit, and they are life." This same Jesus lives and speaks in and through you if you are a Christian (Christ-one).
And Christ speaks through people more than just by verbal words. I heard
a testimony of a woman whose life was transformed as she witnessed the manner in which Stephen Olford walked toward the pulpit.
She saw the very passion of Christ in him. A young Billy Graham saw this same Christ-life in Stephen Olford in 1946.
Billy was in Wales with Youth for Christ and went to hear Stephen preach. After the sermon, Billy asked Stephen to share
his secret. For three days in a country inn, Stephen Olford shared the secret with Billy Graham that can be summed up
in Colossians 1:27, "Christ in you the hope of glory!" It was a turning point in Billy's life. And it is the same
truths I share on this web site.
Stephen Olford's body died in August 2004, but his mentoring
ministry continues through his son David.
j
The Shovel web site is full of articles that will mightily
challenge you to see just how much a miracle you are in Christ! My friend Jim Minker is passionate to hear from God
through the true context of Scriptures revealed by the life of Christ in him. Jim encourages readers to "Dig with me
and uncover the joy of life and freedom that's been buried under piles of religious dirt. Check out the real
Jesus Christ, not the religious icon ... and you just might discover the real you."
Following is an example of Jim's writings, a link to his personal paraphrase of
the epistle to the Galatians. If you read this carefully, you will see that it is true to the context of the original
writings and true to the heart of Christ. I don't think there is a better commentary on Galatians.
Modern Paraphrase of Galatians
My hope with my Christ My Heart website is to link with other
Christ-centered website ministries around the world. I am excited to announce a link between Christ My Heart in a little
town in South Carolina with The Grace Project in London town in England. My new friend Paul Anderson-Walsh in London
has a heart to share through encouraging articles, audios, direct communications, and discipleship training materials.
The primary focus of The Grace Project is to encourage
the "Saved by Sorry," by introducing them to what the Project calls the "Gospel to the Saved." The essential message
of the gospel can be found in Galatians 2:20. The Grace Project
offers a combination of discipleship and mentoring courses augmented by a series of seminars exploring the believer's freedom
in Christ.
Grace Life Fellowship is a discipleship
counseling and training ministry in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. This ministry was founded by Charles Solomon, a former
career engineer that God has used to encourage Christ-centered counseling around the world. John Woodward ministers
along-side Mr. Solomon. I first met John at Luther Rice Seminary. You will be blessed by their writings.
A dear friend recently introduced me to the the teaching ministry
of Bob Warren. He is a former professional basketball player who returned to his roots in western Kentucky to teach
the great good news of the gospel on his farm. Multitudes come from around the country to hear the good news not in
a cathedral or church building, but in log buildings...and most of all, in their own hearts. Bob Warren's discipleship
materials are wonderful, and are entitled "B.A.S.I.C. training" which stands for "Brothers and Sisters in Christ training
each other."
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Last updated on
Gregg Gibbons Journey
in Christ, Inc. 926 NE Main Street Suite F-155 Simpsonville, South Carolina,
USA 29681
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