February 1, 2013: Volume 2, Number 7
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MORE WITH
30 60 100 MINISTRIES |
30 60 100 MINISTRIES has earned the GuideStar Exchange seal, which demonstrates our commitment to transparency.  | | Learning in Costa Rica |
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| Greetings! | We write this with excitement from Costa Rica, where God is doing a powerful work in Christ-followers through the Spiritually Healthy Leader� workshops and coaching in remote locations as part of the Back 40 ministry.
As we look at the cultivated fields surrounding us here, we see the parallel with preparing our hearts to receive God's Word. In this issue of The Cultivator, we begin a 4-part series which compares the human heart to a farmer's field. Check out what happens when the seed of God's Word is snatched from your heart before it has time to sprout in today's feature, "Those Pesky Birds."
 We're looking forward to hearing from you about how God moves in the soil of your heart.
Let us know what you learn from this series when you send us a quick email.
Keep growing!
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QUICK BACK 40 UPDATE FROM COSTA RICA
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Costa Rican couple studying SHL material
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We have been received like royalty in Costa Rica, where we are training and coaching two Spiritually Healthy Leaders� workshop groups (one in English and one in Spanish) in partnership with our missionary friends Geiner and Denise Alvarado. A Quick On-Site Update
GOD IS HERE! We are healthy and enjoying good weather. God has helped us with our Spanish, and also with connections with both 'audiences.' Here are some of the ways we see Him working: - Participants are attentive and enthusiastic, with many young people (youth and college students), couples, and families. We even have a 10-year-old participant!
- 20 hours of teaching in English over 5 days
- 28 hours of teaching in Spanish over 8 days
Look for pictures and testimonies upon our return to the U.S. In the meantime, please continue to pray for God's anointing on this outreach and support for Back 40 as a long-term effort. Thank you for your Back 40 Backers gifts, which have made this remarkable ministry possible. 
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 Feature: YOUR HEART: FICKLE OR FERTILE SOIL?
Part 1: Those Pesky Birds | This devotion is part 1 of 4 in a series based on The Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13, Mark 4, Luke 8), which compares various conditions of the human heart to a farmer's field.
Jesus uses the Parable of the Sower to depict our hearts as a farmer's field. Just as the Sower sowed good seed, so God uses a variety of ways to plant His seed - biblical truth - in the soil of our hearts. We receive His seed through studying the Bible, hearing a message, holding a conversation with a believer, reading other Christian books and resources, and even through circumstances of life.
 Our responsibility is to prepare and cultivate the soil of our hearts so that as we receive God's Word, it can grow in us and produce the best possible yield of spiritual fruit.
There are four kinds of soil in the field. Each represents a different condition and determines whether our heart is fickle (not adequately cultivated and prepared to receive God's word), or fertile (ready to receive the seed and bring forth good fruit.)
The first type of soil is found in the garden path that cuts through the field.
The Path: A Vulnerable Place for Seeds
The path has been tread on year after year leaving the soil compacted. Parts of our hearts can be hard, like the path, leaving what falls there exposed.
When seeds of God's Word fall on this hardened path, they are vulnerable. And along come those pesky birds to eat the seeds. Any opportunity for growth is snatched away immediately.
The Seed Snatchers
Birds represent the Enemy, working with our flesh and the world, to steal the seeds of God's truth. They gobble up the truth before it has time to germinate. In place of the seeds, the birds leave thoughts of doubt, discouragement, despair, and distraction.
Get There Before the Birds
Farmers cultivate a field and then set up scarecrows as sentinels to guard it.
In the same way, we can create a safe environment for seeds to germinate when we recognize our mental battle against the Enemy. Jesus explained that as truth falls on our hearts' "paths" it is snatched away almost instantly with no opportunity to sprout. But cultivated soil is more receptive to seeds planted there, giving God's truth more traction when planted.
Part of that process includes warding off the "birds" - those thoughts from the Enemy that negate God's truth and "steal" the good seed of His Word from our hearts. When you are aware of your own weaknesses, the world's temptations that can push those triggers and the Enemy's methods to steal away the truth, then you can ward off negative thoughts, replacing them with God's truth.
Keep working to keep those pesky birds of doubt and darkness away. In other words, prevent the seeds of God's Word from being stolen from your heart by cultivating your soil, giving the seed a fertile place to take root, and standing guard against any negative thoughts and temptations.
Growth Point
The seed of God's truth must be protected in our hearts.
Scripture
As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. (Matthew 13:4, NIV)
Prayer Points - Like soil, our hearts can be cultivated and improved. How does this encourage you?
- Consider what areas of your life may be hardened and un-worked like the path described in the Parable of the Sower.
- What are some of the thoughts that the Enemy might use to snatch away God's truth from your heart?
- What obstacles might stand in your way as you take on the task of improving your field? Ask God to help you face those obstacles and work around them.
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What People Are Saying ...
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Pastor Sotha Skype while coaching with Dalton
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"Dalton, after talking with you during a coaching session, I feel like my worry is taken away. You are so helpful to me. Thank for your patience and for listening to my problems. I told my staff and my pastors that I have a very good mentor in you. I am waiting to talk to you again."
Pastor Heng Sotha, Christian leader in remote Cambodia
Coaching client since May 2011
Find out more about equipping, coaching, and training opportunities
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