LET US SEE THIS THING WHICH GOD HAS DONE

“LET US NOW GO – AND SEE THIS THING WHICH IS COME TO PASS, WHICH THE LORD HATH MADE KNOWN TO US.” LUKE 2:15



There is within our nation an entitlement mentality. With the birth of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “New Deal” Program, which created welfare, a new dependence upon others to carry the responsibilities of individuals was born.

Lyndon Johnson’s “Great Society” perpetuated and increased the expectation to a resulting “Welfare State”, which has produced generations of adult who rely upon others to provide for their most basic needs.

The rugged individualism and corporate cooperation of local communities to work together to achieve goals and to provide local needs dissipated. After decades of being taught that they were inferior and unable to provide for their families, fathers quit believing that they were able to make a decent living and many Americans forgot how to accept the responsibility to provide for their own.

The belief of “WITH GOD, ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE” was replaced by the misguided dependence upon Government.

The Shepherds, the Wisemen and the common believers who walked before Christ had experienced reliance upon Government for their needs and come apart wanting. They had become dependant upon the laws of men to legislate fairness and come away cheated and disappointed. So when the Angel proclaimed the birth of a New King; God’s Son and a star was placed in the heavens to point the way, all men of seeking hearts sought him.

Their reliance was no longer upon what some man “WOULD DO”, they went to see “THIS THING WHICH IS COME TO PASS” (this thing which God has already done)!

Man may promise “HOPE AND CHANGE”, but ONLY God can deliver.

Only our loving Father can sincerely offer Eternal Hope and Lasting Change.
Man may promise, change by saying, “YES WE CAN”, but the Word of God has a greater promised backed by the infallibility of Almighty God Himself; He instructs us to say, ‘I (not the Government)CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST JESUS WHICH STRENGTHENS ME!” So, “LET US NOW GO – AND SEE THIS THING WHICH IS COME TO PASS, WHICH THE LORD HATH MADE KNOWN TO US.” Amen

DARE YOU DOUBT?

Out of concern, John Lennon once lamented that with American Youth that The Beatles had become more popular than Jesus Christ and the world (especially the American “church”) erupted into mass hysteria. I doubt that many would argue with that observation today. Predictably without examining the intent of his observation, the church had reacted. Years later, not being able to separate his understanding of religion from God, the disillusioned songwriter wrote, the song “God” in which he summarized;

God is a concept,
By which we can measure, Our pain,
I'll say it again, God is a concept,
By which we can measure, Our pain,
I don't believe in magic,
I don't believe in I-ching, I don't believe in bible,
I don't believe in tarot, I don't believe in Hitler,
I don't believe in Jesus, I don't believe in Kennedy,
I don't believe in Buddha, I don't believe in mantra,
I don't believe in Gita, I don't believe in yoga,
I don't believe in kings, I don't believe in Elvis,
I don't believe in Zimmerman, I don't believe in Beatles,
I just believe in me, Yoko and me, And that's reality.
The dream is over, What can I say?
The dream is over, Yesterday,
I was dreamweaver, But now I'm reborn,
I was the walrus, But now I'm John,
And so dear friends, You just have to carry on,
The dream is over.

Within months of penning those words the only relationship which he professed to believe in nearly completely dissolved. Yoko sent him off to live with a younger woman for what became known as ”the lost weekend”, which was in fact two years of excessive living and debauchery. The end result was a “prodigal son’s” return home accompanied by sincere questioning of the mysteries of life and by many accounts his conversion to Christianity, which he held onto and is reflected in several songs written toward the end of his life.

Whether or not the later songs really do expose a sincere conversion, they certainly demonstrate a changed attitude and wiliness to examine much of what he had routinely dismissed earlier in life.

My point is, before you can sincerely know what you believe in, you must first know what it is that you do not believe in.

Never questioning translates into one’s believing what others have instructed you to believe without examination.

One confidence in another’s convictions can never be as strong as one’s own personal convictions.

For example, I don’t believe in this fallen world, I don’t believe in politics to better this world for mankind, I don’t believe in my own goodness, I don’t believe in the institutional church as it has evolved, I don’t believe in manipulation is from God, not even when practiced by Preachers, I don’t believe the church ought to be a begging-institution, but rather a giving-family, I don’t believe we ought to be about the business of imitating the world; knowing these things, I can now sincerely ask what do I believe?

I believe in the Kingdom of God which transcends our world. I believe men are corruptible and given power, men are easily corrupted, whether in politics or ministry. I believe we have all sinned and come short of the glory of God. I believe Christ provides mercy and grace and salvation for those who seek Him. I believe in the New Testament Church as the New Testament Church existed. I believe as Billy Graham said, “If I can talk you into it, someone else can talk you out of It”; I believe, I am not The Holy Spirit, therefore I should not try to do His job. I believe the “Church” is God’s people and God’s people ought to be the most generous, unconditional givers on earth, not expecting anything as a condition to their wiliness to give. I don’t believe the Church is to be an Organization, but rather a living organism, which reflects the image of God.
God said “I PREFER OBEDIANCE OVER SACRIFICE”. If I pray three times a day because it is recommended by my Pastor, I may be cultivating a great religious habit, but if I pray without ceasing, because I long for the pretence of God in my life, I will, like Christ, despise religion.

What do you believe? Why do you believe it? Do not be afraid to question, but don’t be too stubborn that when you see the truth, to embrace the truth. Amen!

BUSINESS OR GOD

“New Testament writers never use the imagery of a business corporation to depict the church. Unlike many modern “churches”, the early Christians knew nothing of spending colossal figures on buildings, programs and projects at the expense of bearing the burden of their fellow brethren” Frank Viola

The local newspaper headline said something like, “Local Preacher Begs for Money”; isn’t that how most of the world envisions the Christian Church anyway? The story went on to say how this internationally-known preacher needs 3 million dollars before December 31 or his ministry, which has already downsized by 35%, is in danger of collapse. Actually, the ministry collapsed long ago. What we are talking about is the need to finance a large corporate structure of buildings, programs and salaries. Where is that model in the New Testament Church?

The danger in running like a corporation is the possibility of dying like a corporation and the Christian Church (regardless of who they are) is one corporation Obama’s Administration will not bail-out!

The biblical model for Church is FAMILY. I suggest that it is impossible to grow a mega-church on a family structure. At some point, the structure, i.e. “church” becomes more important than individuals if it is going to continue to grow; the volunteer secretary who was with your ministry in the begging must be replace by a professional with more advanced skills, regardless of what that might do to her personally or spiritually, the once tight-knit familiar group grows into a sea of unknown faces and “community”, which once sprung naturally out of relationship, must now be scheduled and planned and programmed with little personal interaction. The “Pastor” must abandon personal interactions in order to operate as a CEO who is more concerned with the “survival of the ‘ministry”, than the spiritual health of his congregation.

For years, we struggled to live up to the maxim; “a church” has to operate as a business” and it nearly killed us. The reason is simple; God’s Church is NOT SUPPOSE TO BE A BUSINESS – IT IS SUPPOSE TO BE A FAMILY WHICH IS HEALTHY AND FUNCTIONAL. If we love one another, we will care for one another. We don’t need to adopt a business model, when God has already given us the model we are to follow; family. Amen!

TODAY HOLDS BLESSINGS!

There are so many blessings with each new day; no doubt we also encounter some trials which teach us endurance, but it is the Joy of The Lord which strengthens us. So if you have lost your joy; RE-JOICE!

Determine to find the rainbow in each storm; if your husband leaves his socks by the bed, be thankful you have a husband. If your daughter writes on the walls, take time to thank God for her creativity and she is currently writing you’re your heart. Realize in a few years you will wish she were still your baby girl, crayons or not. If circumstances of yesterday have broken your heart, Thank God that it is no longer yesterday and as surely as the sun rises on each new day; today holds brand new possibilities for you. You can weep over what is lost and you can rejoice over what is yours now to find.

Years ago, I lost everything that was important to me; my wife, my children and most of my friends; all of my material possessions were gone and I was paying off debt that wasn’t mine. I dropped 75 pounds within weeks. I had a job making less money than I had ever made and more bills than I could possibly pay. I no longer had a home and my car was as close to death as I felt. I felt like curling-up into a big ball and dying.

It was then that I realized that I had nothing more to lose! Suddenly my spirit was filled with the realization that I was free to follow hard after God without hindrance; what more could it cost me?

I began to give beyond my means to give and I began to serve at every opportunity. I would drive to church with my gas tank on empty and walk out of church to find a twenty dollar bill in my coat pocket. I was free to live by faith and there wasn’t anything else the devil could take from me, except perhaps my life, but only if God would allow him and what would that matter? “TO BE ABSENT FROM THE BODY IS TO BE PRESENT WITH THE LORD!” Death held no threat to me. Most importantly, I began to rejoice. I began to see every minute blessing that God was giving me.

In time, like Job of old; my whole life had been restored better than I had ever known it before. I found love like I had never known, which continues to grow to this day. I had two more daughters and in time my first two came home to me as well and as God always does, He multiplied our joy of children with grandchildren which I have been able to enjoy. He has indeed restored to me all that the old worm tried to destroy and God has given me even more. And from the night I lay under a wagon on a fairgrounds realizing that I had nothing left to lose, God has allowed me to serve Him though ministry.

Out of the darkest nights comes the brightest promise of a brilliant new day ahead. Amen!

Mirror, Mirror

Looking into the mirror, I see an unknown, but somehow familiar face staring back at me. It is not the face that was mine for most of my life; the eyes are dimmer, the face is fuller. Unexpected wrinkles and folds hide the man I once was. My hair is just as full as ever, but kept short in an older man’s cut; hair that once was held back only in a ponytail does not even touch my ears, let alone my shoulders. Heavier, somehow duller; unknown, but not unfamiliar, that is the reflection that I see.

I stare trying to determine who it is that I have become and I see my Father and his brothers. I recognize that I have the Holman’ head and nose. I look like my father in some ways, but I can also recognize my Uncle Arble and Uncle Roy, my eyes remind me of my beloved Aunt Deloris or Aunt Orpha. Life has in short order transformed me from a skinny rock-n-roller into a fat preacher. Life has robbed me of my youth and left standing in my place I man who resembles his father more than he resembles who he once was himself.

Spiritually I want to resemble my Father, not the father who helped to give me physical life, but the one who called my spirit man into existence. I wonder if the people around me notice a family resemblance to the One who is Love. When our Spirits touch, do they recognize the One who created them in me? As time has caused me to morph physically into the reflection of my birth family, has it also allowed me to be transformed more into His image? I hope so.

Three words, “God Is Love” changed the course of my life. Can the expression of that love through me help to transform the people He has allowed into my life? Will the man I conduct business with, the woman I speak to on the phone, the young man I pass in the car; will they see me or will My Father who is at work in me?

And who will they see in you? Will you reflect love or anger or mistrust or deceit? God’s Word clearly tells us that we are created in His image. Is His image clear in you or has the hardships of life left your countenance so distorted that He is unrecognizable? I pray you resemble your Father today in all you do.

The physical mirror reflects outward changes and an inward inheritance; I pray our spiritual mirrors would reflect inward changes that will lead to our eternal inheritance. Amen!

What If?

What if, every church took all the money they pour into "Christmas Productions", cancelled all their special services, pageants and plays and gathered together instead in order to serve the individuals of their communities? advertising dollars and bought clothes for the homeless or even better; offered them a warm place to sleep?, What if they took their prop money and gave to the poor, saved their printing expenses to buy diapers for the babies of single mothers? What if every church funneled all that they invest in presentations and did their level best to fill every known need in their communities and partnered together with other churches to help meet yet other needs ?
What if ?
What if, every Christian Believer decided to buy only one special gift for each person in their family (including the children)? What if they only bought or better yet, made that one thing that their child or loved one would always remember? What if, like God we only gave our very best? What if the joy of Christmas was measured, not by the amount presents under the tree, but by the thoughtfulness and love behind each gift? What if each gift was so special that only one gift need be given?

What if?

What if, we took the time that would otherwise be spent on shopping for for our loved ones and invested it instead in being with our loved ones? What lasting memories could be created in place of the forgotten moments of excess that fill Christmas morning? What if, rather than spending hours and hours in rehearsal at church for music and plays, we chose instead to share life with one another? What if we invited our neighbors and community members into our homes for dinner? Would there be a greater?

What if?

What if, the focus of Christmas day itself was centered in believers coming together to worship, families coming together to visit, communities coming together to remember the goodness of God through the single gift of love for us through His only Son? What if we served the afternoon serving food to the hungry?

What if?

What if, at every Christmas table, each Christian family shared their meal with someone who would otherwise eat alone on that day?

What if?

I think the world might stop and notice; I think that they might find the answer to the gnawing hunger that haunts them, a hunger that will never be filled by more things or good times. The world has heard our sermons, they’ve seen our plays, but few have every had the opportunity to see that our lives are any different than theirs. What if we reconsidered how we celebrate Christ? I think those who are yet to know Him and we who do, might better understand the love of God.

ARE YOU WILLING?

“FOLLOW ME” Matthew 9:9 b

The invitation of Christ echoes throughout time and creation. It is a call to all who are hungry of spirit and weary of soul. The brevity of these simple words belies the significance of life-change for those who readily respond to them.

Spoken first to Matthew, a man whose name is ever linked to sinners and prostitutes; a tax collector who routinely cheated people of their money, a significance, which offers hope to every sinner. It is an invitation whose significance stands as a warning to every person of religious persuasion.

Hear the voice of Christ; He invites you not to a cold dead religion; He invites you not to a social gathering; He invites you not to cold steal and stained glass; He invite you and me, as broken as we are into a living relationship with one another and with Father God.

Some refuse to heed His call because they do not love the Father, others refuse to heat it because they refuse to love their neighbors as much as they love themselves, yet others refuse to honestly respond to His gentle voice because they love their traditions and their religion more than they are will to love God or man.

Matthew’s response is recorded, “AND HE AROSE, AND FOLLOWED HIM. He rose-up from where he was, leaving life as it had always been behind and followed in the footsteps of Jesus, even unto death and life eternal. As Peter would later leave family, home and job; Matthew recognized his need and followed the only One who could ever fulfill that need. Peter saw his brokenness and followed after the only One who could heal his brokenness.
What about you? Are you willing to abandon all the “Known” for the “Unknown” of walking with Jesus? Are you willing to leave family and riches, comfort and even traditional church if need be to follow Him?

Jesus is calling, “Follow me!” What will you do?

Thoughts

I awakened to an increased awareness of my need for God. This awareness grew from more than the sinus headache which punishes me even as I write; the awareness is born more from the eating hunger of emptiness which invades every corner of my spirit whenever I drift from His burning presence.


We live in an age that has taken the greatest truths and reduced them to vinyl bumper stickers and diminished love to nothing more than a Hallmark Store sentiment. Eternal truth orders our universe and true love has little to do with warm feelings of fondness and more to do with the gut-wrenching need to care for others more than we care for ourselves.

Certainly, we plan our way, but our Heavenly Father directs our steps. Our God family is once again vitally aware of God’s providence in our corporate worship life. In recent weeks He has once again opened the door for us to have a place to worship weekly.

We had been advised that we may need to move soon, but our God has said, not yet! He has not only showed us His great favor in keeping us where He has led us but as He always does, when we are in His perfect will; He has expanded our blessings in being there.

As a young man I sang of the elusive butterfly of love; as an older man I have hungered for the elusive experience of true Christian community, which like love is non-existent without sacrifice. I remember asking, “How will I know when I am in love?” The consistent answer left me frustrated; “You’ll know!” “Recently I have been seeking God hard, “How will I know when we have discovered true biblical community? How can I create it?” I suspect God smiles as He says, “You will know and you cannot create it, only I can. “ For the first time in a long time, we, as a God Family are indeed experiencing relationship rather than religion.

The greatest treasures in life are those intangible, elusive, sometimes almost mystical values that we cannot create, cause or define, but are wholly aware of when they exist; love, community, liberty, life.

So precious are these treasures that they come only through great sacrifice, even to the point of death. What did Jesus say, “HE WHO SEEKS TO SAVE HIS OWN LIFE SHALL LOSE IT, BUT HE WHO IS WILLING TO LAY IT DOWN FOR MY SAKE SHALL FIND IT.”

Tammy and I were discussing God’s law of supply and demand other day; we decided that some people call it Karma, some say “What Goes Around; comes around”, Jesus said, “GIVE AND IT SHALL BE GIVEN UNTO YOU, PRESSED DOWN, SHAKEN TOGETHER AND RUNNING OVER. THE MEASURE BY WHICH YOU GIVE IS THE SAME MEASURE BY WHICH YOU RECEIVE.” It’ is a law of God which applies to us all whether we believe in Him or not; this truth is so evident that it cannot be ignored or denied. “JUDGE AND YOU WILL BE JUDGED”; you give mercy, you will receive mercy multiplied, you give love and you will receive love multiplied, if you are gracious toward others, you will be able to be gracious to yourself as will others, more than you deserve, likewise, if you are judgmental, critical and damning the same will be returned to you in greater abundance than you dare imagine, perhaps not today or tomorrow, but sooner than you like and perhaps eternally unless you are repentant.

Yes, God is with us and His laws, as translucent as they may be never fail. Amen!

ORIGIN OF THANKSGIVING

Many of us were taught a myth in school. In our “history” classes we were told that Thanksgiving was begun by the grateful pilgrims as they shared a feast with the native Indians (whom they later slaughtered). The truth is far less imaginative and politically correct for those who believe in the other myth of Separation of Church and State; Thanksgiving originated as a religious holiday instituted by our first President; George Washington. As a Christian, he believed it only right that we thank God for His provision and care of our Nation. Read his words and as you gather tomorrow, remember Thanksgiving was established as a religious holiday, which would be celebrated not with football or feast, but rather with prayers and repentance.
George Washington's 1789 Thanksgiving Proclamation
Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor; and Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me to "recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:"

Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed; for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enable to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and, in general, for all the great and various favors which He has been pleased to confer upon us.

And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions; to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have shown kindness to us), and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best.

Given under my hand, at the city of New York, the 3d day of October, A.D. 1789.

What Are You Being?

What will you do today? Do you even know? You have your plans and you may well do your best to follow those plans, but what thing of eternal significance will you do? In other words, in what way will you contribute to the building of God’s kingdom?


I asking you Spiritual Leaders as well, in what way will you contribute to the Kingdom of God; here’s a hint, your religious duties will not necessarily fulfill them.

The Apostle Paul admonishes us, “THEREFORE, WHETHER YOU EAT OR DRINK, OR WHATEVER YOU DO, DO ALL TO THE GLORY OF GOD.” 1 CORINTHIANS 10:31 This literally mean that as disciples of Jesus, however we spend the next eight hours of life which we shall never recover, we need to invest them in such a way that the result of our choices live throughout eternity.

Should I go to church? In reality; church is the last place you are going to impact your world for Christ. However, at the gas pump, in the grocery line, digging a ditch, working in the office or the store or your business; those are places where you can share the love of God.

You mean I should witness for Him? No! Your life should be a witness for Him, there’s a huge difference. If I accost the girl in the grocery with Jesus jabber every time I see her, believer or not, eventually she’s going to run when she sees me coming. If, on the other hand, I am the most pleasant customer she has every day that I am in her line, she is eventually going to wonder what makes me so different from the grouches who usually fill her line. Eventually she is going to ask why I am so patient or loving or kind and I can tell her about Jesus when she is ready to hear.

But I’m not ashamed of Christ! Neither am I, but people must know you care about them before they care about what you say to them. The Christian life is not a sprint, it’s a walk. “THE MIND OF MAN PLANS HIS WAY, BUT THE LORD DIRECTS HIS STEPS” PROVERBS 16:9 If I have the faith to know that I am in step with The Holy Spirit, then I will be on God’s time table, I may not always speak first, but when I speak it will produce fruit.
You are alive today because God has something for you to be, I bet you thought I thought I was going to say, God has something for you to do, but you are NOT a HUMAN DOING, you are a HUMAN BEING! We must BE about our Father’s Business, which may mean nothing more than choosing to do your best at whatever you do to God’s Glory, at your job or at the gas pump, at home, in your yard or in your school. Each time another person sees the light of God’s love alive in you, you are expanding the boundaries of the Kingdom of God.
For Heaven’s sake, quit pretending to be perfect; you’re not. Just be the real you to the Glory of God. Did you get that? Not for your glory, not to enlarge your church or denomination. A lost and dying world is watching you; “THEREFORE, WHETHER YOU EAT OR DRINK, OR WHATEVER YOU DO, DO ALL TO THE GLORY OF GOD.” Amen!

TRUE STORIES - WIHOUT LOVE

A church member approaches his preacher after morning worship, without as much as a flutter of his eyes he boldly says to his pastor, “You know the last 6 months or so you’re preaching has sucked!” Taken back the pastor can only mutter, “I’m sorry”. “And I might as well also tell you that I don’t like your story-telling either.” Catching his breath and feeling his temperature rise, the pastor addresses the man by name and comments, “I’ve been your pastor for the past several years, my style hasn’t changed!” “Well, preacher, don’t you think it’s about time it does? I’m not the only one who feels this way!” Of course he would punctuate his verbal assault by speaking for others who are to cowardly to do the same.


To make the above matter sadder is the fact that the pastor in question has been ill for the past six months and even undergone heart surgery. It doesn’t seem the church member hasn’t even considered that the pastor’s health may have affected his preaching, nor has he considered how difficult it will be for the preacher to take to the pulpit whilst wondering who else is against him.

In another place, another time, the senior pastor gently takes the hand of his Associate Pastor’s wife, “I’m concerned”, he begins. “I know your husband hasn’t been home much lately. I know he has been telling you that he is working, but I have got to tell you, I have not been asking him to work these long hours, he says he’s making calls for the church, but are you sure he isn’t doing something else, perhaps seeing someone else? “

Sadly the feigned concern is just one of many ploys the Senior Pastor would try to discourage the Associate who was in transition to take the Senior Pastor’s position. Having left secular work and cutting his income in half at the Senior Pastor’s urging in order to effect a six month transition to the Senior Pastor position; after a culmination of 13 years of faithful service to that church body, after turning down various other ministry options at the Senior’s Pastor’ urging, he is unaware that the pastor has changed his mind and has decided to turn his ministry over to his recently married son, who had previously been uninterested.

Fortunately for the associate pastor, his wife knows him better than the senior pastor assumes. She and her husband communicate regularly every day, she knows of his tireless efforts for the church.

A young couple are asked by their pastor to led a particular ministry, unsure that they can be successful in the endeavor, they nonetheless “step-out in-faith” at their Pastor’s urging. When the costly adventure fails, the pastor steps aside like a trained matador and places the blame on the sincere couple.

Sadly, “brothers and sisters in the church” turn on the couple, leaving tem wounded and effectively without a church family.

I wish these were isolated stories, the exception rather than the rule; however the institutional church can be a very dangerous place for people with caring hearts. The corporate church can be as ruthless and cutthroat as corporate America. Loyalties forgotten, lies are told, names are called, reputations are ruined and families are destroyed all for the “GOOD of the ministry” or a man’s ministry. Manipulation, lies, deceit, heartless attacks are all tools of Satan whether used by laity or clergy.Jesus left the 99 to reach out in love to the one lost sheep, too many involved in church today will easily slaughter one in order to pacify the 99. Such behavior should never be found with Christ’s name attached. Whatever we do, whatever our plans, goals, efforts or actions, anything we do for God ought to be permeated by and with the love of God; if they are not; they are worthless! Consider, Pastor, Churchgoer, professor of Christ;


1 Corinthians 13

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing. Love suffers long [and] is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. But whether [there are] prophecies, they will fail; whether [there are] tongues, they will cease; whether [there is] knowledge, it will vanish away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away. When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known. And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these [is] love.

The greatest of these is love; Jesus doesn’t care how full your church is, how successful your programs are or how busy you are for Him if you do not love unconditionally as He loves us. Amen!

SOME QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER

Frank Viola asked a question that I would like all honest Christians to consider; Where do you see the modern clergy system in Ephesians 4? My Bible demonstrates different ministries there, not a clergy caste system. Methinks you are reading an unbiblical system into that text. "Pastor" in the first century is not what it's become today. If it is, can you give me one example of a man who preaches to the same congregation every week, marries the living and buries the dead, blesses civic events, is titled "pastor" or "reverend", is called the head of a church, etc. etc.”

Allow me to also ask; how does what we call “church” today, reflect the New Testament Church?

As a church, we are pressing into what God created while sifting through and discarding what man has added through the years; surprise of surprises we are now seeing lives touched and changed and Sunday worship is a joy again rather than an obligation (even for the leadership!)

If you are ready for relevance and life and to have everything you have ever known about church, pick-up “Pagan Christianity” by Frank Viola and George Barna. If you read it, consider Reimagining Church by Frank Viola or “The Untold Story of The New Testament Church or FROM ETERNITY TO HERE by Frank Viola.

Fair warning; don’t read these books if you are happy with status-quo church life.

THE CHURCH IS FAT

THE CHURCH IN AMERICA IS FAT

This morning as I met with my associate, I had a revelation; The Church in America IS Fat. Why? For the same reason that most Americans are fat; empty calories and no consistent exercise for the body.

Everything in America is bigger and most of us have the mind set that “BIGGER is BETTER”. Our cars are big, our houses are big, our meals are big, our clothes are big, our appetites are big and never satisfied the more we eat, the more we want and need to eat. America in general is getting bigger all the time and not in a healthy way. And we are never satisfied.

Rather than eat many small nutritious meals each day, as most doctors recommend; many of us eat less often, but consume enough calories during those settings to feed several people. Furthermore much of what we eat is processed unhealthy empty calories; foods our bodies either cannot use or struggle to process. Such diet coupled with little or no consistent physical exercise and the result is a fat population of unhealthy people.

The American church too has strayed from what is healthy and has also become mortally obese. We have forgotten the model of the New Testament Church and adopted the practices of heathen religions, dedicated more to building and keeping our “houses of worship” rather than being ourselves the temple of The Holy Spirit. We have become infected with the gangrene mentality that “bigger is better” and so we create a vicious feeding cycle of building and supporting buildings and programs and special events, which we call ministry in order to pay the parallel growing hired staff and to maintain the structures now needed to house the growth.

As a sister in Christ wrote me yesterday, “our churches are so wrapped up in what we do, how much we give, where we can volunteer next, do more, give more, be more and people get overwhelmed and burned out because they are never allowed to REST and RESTORE to find out what is real inside of them.”; in the name of “church” and “outreach” or “evangelism” we demand more and more and more , expect more and more and bigger and better, but to what end? Empty calories which do not satisfy, but indeed enlarge the body. Are we effectively impacting our world for Christ? No! In fact we are not effectively impacting the Church for Christ.

After nearly thirty years in ministry and preaching and hearing preached thousands of sermons, I was dismayed at the unhealthy fat babies within the body of Christ. Great preaching, great worship; lousy men and women of faith, whose “beliefs” bore little resemblance to the lack of victory in their actual lives. I had to consider what was missing; in rexaming the early church, I discovered little resemblance to what we mass produce today as ministry. We’ve dropped our routine form of doing church and have decided to BE the Church. We have become a personal interactive community of believers who share life, good, bad and real; if you’re saved you serve, where God directs you to serve. I no longer preach as much as I lead an open discussion of the relevance of the Word of God in our lives. We quit bringing the projector, sound system, instruments and we’ve shut down programs and started bringing and opening the Bible. If we sing it is spontaneous, if we pray; it is real. When we commune it is around a full meal, like the early church.

The point is substance, subtance, substance. The result has been open confession of sin one to another and true spiritual growth. No more performance or pretending; just authenticy of community. Have we arrived yet? No, but we’re getting trim and healthy and if we are 15 or 25 in members – no stress our only growth goal is to grow in Him. Amen!

Daughter, who do you trust?

WHY DO YOU BOAST IN THE VALLEYS, YOUR FLOWING VALLEY, O BACKSLIDING DAUGHTER? WHO TRUSTED IN HER TREASURES, SAYING, ‘WHO WILL COME AGAINST ME?” JEREMIAH 49:4

The NIT says, “YOU ARE PROUD OF YOUR FERTILE VALLEYS, BUT THEY WILL SOON BE RUINED. YOU REBELLIOUS DAUGHTER, YOU TRUSTED IN YOUR WEALTH AND THOUGHT NO ONE COULD EVER HARM YOU.”

We do not fall from God in the low places of our lives; we fall from His place of blessing; we fall from the mountain heights, the heights upon which the Lord has placed us.

The Prophet addresses such a believer who has been touched and blessed by God and in her riches and wealth, turns from the very God who has blessed her. More certainly than hardships will strengthen us, blessings can make us proud and pride is sin; “PRIDE GOES BEFORE DESTRUCTION AND A HAUGHTY (PROUD) SPIRIT BEFORE A FALL.” PROVERBS 16:14

I have never seen a man ruined with God by poverty, although I am certain it can happen, I have seen countless “Christians” ruined by prosperity. The scenario goes like this; the individual has need, they work hard, they pray, they fast, they call out to and trust in God; in time the blessings flow, life becomes easy; they rest a little to enjoy God’s blessings, but soon forget the blessings are from God; they become proud of what they have accomplished, they feel safe and secure and they become satisfied to place their trust in their own ability and their possessions; mistakenly crediting themselves with their new found fortune, they forget the days of hunger and want ; poor with the things of this world, but rich in their faith in God. Their only hope of being reminded of God faithfulness to them is when a new tragedy steals from them all they have previously gained. “THE RICH MAN IS WISE IN HIS OWN CONCEIT; BUT THE POOR MAN THAT HAS UNDERSTANDING SEARCHES GOD OUT.” PROVERBS 28:11

We should pray the prayer of Agur for ourselves, our children and our children’s children; “O GOD, I BEG TWO FAVORS FROM YOU BEFORE I DIE. FIRST HELP ME NEVER TO TELL A LIE. SECOND, GIVE ME NEITHER POVERTY NOR RICHES! GIVE ME JUST ENOUGH TO SATISFY MY NEEDS. FOR IF I GROW RICH, I MAY DENY YOU AND SAY, ‘WHO IS THE LORD?’ AND IF I AM TOO POOR, I MAY STEAL AND THUS IINSULT GOD’S HOLY NAME.” PROVERBS 30:7-9

I have four beautiful daughters; before I die, my only desire is to see them all serving God with al their hearts and teaching their children to do the same. To see that accomplished would fulfill the purpose of my life. Amen!

Out of The Darkness

“HE WILL BRING TO LIGHT WHAT IS HIDDEN IN DARKNESS AND WILL EXPOSE THE MOTIVES OF MEN’S HEARTS.” 1 CORINTHIANS 4:5

Satan is a lousy secret keeper; he entices you to sin and then exposes you for being a sinner.

The laws of God cannot be altered; they are just and true and they never fail, even when you and I would rather they would. When God said to His people, “AND YOU MAY BE SURE THAT YOUR SIN WILL FIND YOU OUT.” NUMBERS 32:23 He meant it.

When He said “Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” Matthew 6:4 Whether your reward be blessings or curses is not determined by God but by you and I, “FOR THE WAGES OF SIN IS DEATH, BUT THE GIFT OF GOD IS ETERNAL LIFE THROUGH CHRIST JESUS OUR LORD.” ROMANS 6:23 The choice is yours.

You and I somehow expect to “get away” with our sin. Somehow, we believe that we will escape being found out, but there is way to lie to an all-knowing God, there is no way to out-maneuver an all-powerful God and there is no place to hide from an ever-present God; yet somehow we tend to believe the liar and destroyer of our soul when he says to us, “YOU SURELY WILL NOT DIE!” and so we sin and the reward of what we do in secret is brought to light and something, sometimes many things die.

There is one final promise of God to remember; “FOR WE MUST APPEAR BEFORE THE JUDGEMENT SEAT OF CHRIST, THAT EACH ONE MAY RECEIVE WHAT IS DUE HIM FOR THE THINGS DONE WHILE IN THIS BODY, WHETHER GOOD OR BAD.” 2 CORITHIANS 5:10

It’s not too late to repent; its not to late to ask God to help you stop sinning and walk away from it, back to your Heavenly Father and all who love you. Amen!

BEWARE SPIRITUAL ARROGANCE

“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”—1 John 1:8.

Beware spiritual arrogance! As Christians our hope is found in Christ alone. The Christian walk is a walk of honesty and humility, or else it is not founded in Christ at all.

The man or woman who proclaims their own righteousness or holiness or great faith is the one who is most certainly to be deceived.

“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” “Ah, but preacher, my sins have been washed away!” Your adoption into the family of God is certain and eternal, however the washing, the cleansing; your need for forgiveness is continual. Praise God, His grace is sufficient. Never forget; “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9

Could Christ have offered the challenge, "He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone” John 8:7 Short of understanding Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”?

Would I have you doubt your faith? If your faith is in your own perfection and goodness than I would say, not only doubt it, denounce it, as Christ did after a disciple called Him good; "Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good--except God alone. Mark 10:18 If He who was tempted in all things as we are yet remained without sin did not consider Himself good, who are you and I to believe that we who are born into sin and remain at odds with sin should boast in our own “goodness”?

Are we to be like the Pharisee praying in the temple; “God, I thank you that I am not like other men--robbers, evildoers, adulterers--or even like this tax collector” or should we be like the tax collector who “would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.' Jesus said, "I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

Beware spiritual arrogance! Amen!

Loyal Friend?

“LOTS OF PEOPLE CLAIM TO BE LOYAL AND LOVING, BUT WHERE ON EARTH CAN YOU FIND ONE?” PROVERBS 20:6 The Message

“Pastor, I would have followed you to the ends of the earth!” the lady said to me after telling me that she was leaving our church. My reply was simply, “But, you didn’t, did you?”

I sat and listened to a heart-broken pastor yesterday tell of how his ministry is being undermined by good, but disloyal members. I heard the same story again today from another pastor.

The weakness of human relationships isn’t only seen or felt within the ministry though; who of you have not been disappointed by a “friend” or family member? So many marriages today are broken upon the rocks of discontentment and heart-ache after the promises of loyalty and love are broken!

“LOTS OF PEOPLE CLAIM TO BE LOYAL AND LOVING, BUT WHERE ON EARTH CAN YOU FIND ONE?”

I used to joke that my late father never made a promise to us as kids that he didn’t break; as a kid it seemed that way. Poor dad often promised from his heart what he desired to do for us, but had no means of doing. His intentions were better than his word. As a father, I now understand that his heart often out-spoke his head.

Not everyone’s intentions are as pure as my fathers though. Most people have very conditional love, which is really not love at all. Most people have loyalty also which is based entirely upon whether or not we continue to please them, which is not loyalty at all.

So how should we measure out love and loyalty? As Christ measures them out to us, fully, freely and without condition; such love and loyalty frees men from their sin, such love and loyalty forgets their transgressions, such love and loyalty will change the world. The Psalmist writes, “LOTS OF PEOPLE CLAIM TO BE LOYAL AND LOVING, BUT WHERE ON EARTH CAN YOU FIND ONE?” We shouldn’t be surprised that there are so few, we should be determined that we each become one. Amen!

REMEMBER GOD

“HE CAUSES HIS SUN TO RISE ON THE EVIL AND ON THE GOOD, AND SENDS THE RAIN ON THE RIGHTEOUS AND THE UNRIGHTEOUS” MATTHEW 5:45

Blessings and trials come unannounced; each new day will bring one or the other or both. The test of character is how we handle the blessings and trails which befall us.

There is a great danger of accusing God of being unfair when we are faced with trails; there is also, perhaps an even greater danger of forgetting God once we are snug within His blessings.

To blame God during trials is to forget His character; to forget that He is loving and just and righteous. The darkness of trials can blind us to His compassion; the wails of our own inner sorrow can deafen us until we no longer hear His many promises to keep and defend us.

As recipients of God’s blessings we so easily and quickly forget that He is the source of our good fortune. We are so quick to take credit; attributing our “luck” or our perseverance or our hard word and diligence; foolish man you cannot even take your next breath without His permission. Who is it that has equipped you to do what you have done? Who is it who teaches you what you need to know? Who has given you the gifting and the where-with-all to do what you do? Did you create yourself? Did you place yourself in your mother’s womb? As an infant, as a child, did you have say in where you lived and what you learned and the life that influenced you? No! Even as a man, the Word reminds us that we “WE MAKE OUR PLANS, BUT HE DIRECTS OUR STEPS”.

So abundant is the mercy and love and grace of our God; He never lets go of us. “HE CAUSES HIS SUN TO RISE ON THE EVIL AND ON THE GOOD, AND SENDS THE RAIN ON THE RIGHTEOUS AND THE UNRIGHTEOUS” Each day either blessings or trials will come our way; each day we have opportunity to bring Glory to the name of God by how we handle each. Amen!

Light Shine

Jesus said, “LET YOUR LIGHT SO SHINE BEFORE MEN, THAT THEY MAY SEE YOUR GOOD WORKS, AND GLORIFY YOUR FATHER IN HEAVEN.” MATTHEW 5:16

Jesus; being all truth understood that within each of God’s created beings is the light of God. Created in His image; we are created to shine forth His glory. Before the fall of man to sin, the natural state of you and I was to be one of being sinless, therefore radiating the undefiled glory of God.

Jesus goes on to say, if we want a light to shine that we do not place it under a basket and yet some of you have done just that; you have allowed your own desires and interests and satisfactions to cover the light of God which burns deep within you.

You have allowed those situations, relationships, friendships and personal glory to hinder the glory of God in you. Indeed you no longer bask in the warmth of His love; why should you expect that anyone outside of yourself could see it? Where you once shone clear and bright upon the lamp stand of God’s Word, you have allowed your love of the things of this world to darken you.

Where are the good works of God in your life? What have you done for God lately? Let’s get real; what did you do that was not for you or yours yesterday? Preacher, you’re not exempt, how much have you done for God compared to how much you have done for ‘your’ ministry? How much time have you spent alone with Him compared to “doing the ministry”?

We are created for His good pleasure; whatever we do we are to do to the glory of God. Where is your light? Is it shining? Where is your heart? For where your heart is that is where your treasure will be also; you will give to that which you love.

You and I are given a few hours upon the plain of earth; we each hold an allotted amount of time with which to serve His’ purpose with our lives to bring God glory. With that in mind, how are you doing?

Jesus said, “LET YOUR LIGHT SO SHINE BEFORE MEN, THAT THEY MAY SEE YOUR GOOD WORKS, AND GLORIFY YOUR FATHER IN HEAVEN.” Let the people of God say, Amen!

DESIGNATE OR ELEVATE

“CALL NO MAN YOUR FATHER ON EARTH, FOR YOU HAVE ON FATHER, WHO IS IN HEAVEN” MATTHEW 23:9


Recently, I have become, once again very sensitive to the brutish behavior of many spiritual leaders; pastors who manipulate and brow-beat and twist arms politically in order to carry our “their vision”.

I have myself been guilty of being far too authoritative in the past in some instances and so while examining the excesses of the institutional church and while changing the whole method of the way we experience worship; I have also been considering the relevance and even the correctness of using the term “pastor”.

This verse has been used in argument against using that word or any other to denote spiritual authority over others, but after careful study I believe like so much of our spiritual walk the “righteousness” of a situation is not the matter of practice as it is a matter of the heart. Heart-motive is far more important to God than whether or not we use a particular word or series of words.

The word in question is “father”. Is the root word for father the same as the root word for pastor? No, it is not. The Greek word here is patēr, which means father, while the root word for pastor is poimēn which literally means shepherd. The danger is not a word of designation for the spiritual leader; the danger is when the man of God sees himself as something “more” than those he leads. The sharp divide between clergy and laity is man-driven, not God-originated. We have perverted the role of pastor to elevate us, whereas God’s intent is that such a calling is servanthood; “To Minister” means “to serve”.

If we accept that this Scripture is not addressing the term Pastor, then let us consider what Jesus is saying; should we address spiritual leaders as “father”? A casual reading of the words of Jesus would suggest not, but if we are to take this verse literally, than we must also understand it would be wrong for any child to address their male parent as father either for it is the same Greek Word. Common sense tells us that Jesus wasn’t forbidding this type of use of the word "father." A careful study of Scripture shows that Job says of himself, "I was a father to the poor, and I searched out the cause of him whom I did not know" (Job 29:16). Elisha cries, "My father, my father!" to Elijah as the latter is carried up to heaven in a whirlwind (2 Kgs. 2:12) In Acts 7:2, Stephen refers to "our father Abraham," and in Romans 9:10, Paul speaks of "our father Isaac." He also refers to himself as being a father to the churches as well as being Timothy’s spiritual father.

Jesus refers to himself as Teacher, but looks at His words; a careful examination of the context of Matthew 23 shows that Jesus didn’t intend for his words here to be understood literally. The whole passage reads, "But you are not to be called ‘rabbi,’ for you have one teacher, and you are all brethren. And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. Neither be called ‘masters,’ for you have one master, the Christ" (Matt. 23:8–10). I believe He was using hyperbole (exaggeration to make a point) to show the scribes and Pharisees how sinful and proud they were for not looking humbly to God as the source of all authority and fatherhood and teaching, and instead setting themselves up as the ultimate authorities, father figures, and teachers. Christ used hyperbole often, for example when he declared, "If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and throw it away; it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell" (Matt. 5:29, cf. 18:9; Mark 9:47). Christ certainly did not intend this to be applied literally, for otherwise all Christians would be blind amputees! (cf. 1 John 1:8; 1 Tim. 1:15). We are all subject to "the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life" (1 John 2:16).

It would be an easy “religious” matter if we are to merely avoid particular words; it’s much more difficult to allow the Holy Spirit to check the attitudes of our hearts. Man will almost always opt out for religious regulation over the reality and rigor of relationship.

I may or may not refer to myself as Pastor or even Brother at times in order to keep my own motives in check, and you need not feel the obligation to address me as such either; however when you do, I would hope it is not to elevate me, but to acknowledge my desire to walk with you, as we grow together in God. Amen!!

Bette J. Kingrey

KINGREY (TULLER) Bette J. Kingrey, passed away in her sleep, September 20, 2009. Wife of the late Wm. E. Kingrey. (Hilda L. and Walter H. Tuller parents). Survived by Janet (sister) and Jack R. Atkinson of Phoenix, Jodi (niece) and Terry Wisenant, Merrilee (daughter) and Steven R. Goodrich, Wm. A. Kingrey (son), Stephanie, Sofia (great- granddaughter) and Wm. J. Kingrey (grandson), Ben A. Kingrey (grandson), Zach Kingrey (great-grandson). Charter member of New Hope Community Fellowship Church. Memorial service Saturday at Genoa Baptist Church, (3C Hwy.) at 11 a.m. Pastor Gary Holman officiating. In lieu of flowers, donations to Kid's n' Kamp or New Hope Community Fellowship Church. Arrangements by HILL FUNERAL HOME, Westerville.

Where Is Your Focus

Our focus should not be so much on what others, including God; can do for us, but rather, through God; what we can do for others. Nothing is free except the Love of God. He gives it to us freely; our love given back to Him will cost us everything. However,what joy comes becoming whom we created to be.wever, what joy comes from becoming whom you were created to be.

Narcissism has invaded our theology, our worship and our expectations of God. Our worship is filled with expressions of I, Me, Mine. How Great Thou Art is recognized only through the goggles of His benefits to me. The Houses of Worship, which God does not expect us to erect, are designed for our comfort, our convenience and our glory, although most often we protest, “To God be the Glory!” How is He glorified in shrines built to ourselves?

We are to look outward; reach beyond and never sit down. We are to look beyond our desires; reach beyond our comfort and never rest in what God has already accomplished, even it is through us; there is always the remainder of this day to serve God.

Christ first command to those who would be His Disciples; “Deny yourselves” remains the most relevant. Certainly the greatest Command is for you and I to love God with all that we are and our neighbors as ourselves, but such love cannot exist in a heart that has not first been stripped clean of self-love.

Again, I will say, Our focus should not be so much on what others, including God; can do for us, but rather, through God; what we can do for others. Nothing is free except the Love of God. He gives it to us freely; our love given back to Him will cost us everything. However,what joy comes becoming whom we created to be.wever, what joy comes from becoming whom you were created to be.

RIP Bette

Dear Family and Friends,

It is with heavy heart that I must share with you that another good friend and Charter Member of New Hope Community Fellowship has passed away. Yesterday afternoon at 1:30pm our dear sister Bette Kingrey died. At 1:00pm she was sleeping peacefully and when her daughter checked her at 1:30pm she was gone. I arrived within minutes to find Bette; eyes and mouth closed, looking as though she was fast asleep; a fitting departure of a lady of such dignity.

When we visited last week, her one question to me was "What is taking the Lord SO long?" She follwed her question with a typical Bette statement, "I just don't understand it!". When I kissed her goodbye, I had no idea it would be for the last time.

Bette was instrumental in encouraging the formation of our church and she was faithful to the end. She was often frustrated by the fact that soem had left us and told EVERYBODY, "I can't attend anymore, but New Hope is my church!" She routinely said, "I love all you people down there"; I never figured out why she always said "down there", but it makes me smile thinking about her.

Tammy has known Bette all her life and in fact grew-up in the same house that Bette did. I have known Bette and her family for around 25 years, 10 of which she has been a charted member of our church.

While we are sorry to see Bette go, We rejoice that she has joined so many who have gone before her. Thirty-five from our church alone are there to greet her, not to mention her sweet mother Hilda, her husband and so many friends. I know she is in a better place,but she will also always be a part of who I am. I am blessed to have known her. I will let you all know when the Memorial Service is scheduled as soon as we know.

Sincerely, Brother Gary

IS OBAMA THE ANTI-CHRIST?

“AND MANY FALSE PROPHETS SHALL RISE, AND SHALL DECEIVE MANY.” MATTHEW 24:11

I have been asked several times if I believe Barrack Obama is the Anti-Christ. I will be honest to say, I doubt that he is THE anti-Christ; I believe he is an anti-Christ; a false prophet, if you will, who will deceive many.

He comes making promises he cannot keep; using money he does not have; taking what is not his and giving it away; all the while he smiles and tells us that he knows better than we, what we have need of. What we need is less Government and less taxation so that you and I can care for our own and freely give to help others in need.

Bible Teacher Bob Mumford once said, “You cannot legislate love!” Men cannot be forced to treat one another the way they should by creating new laws. In the same manner forced charity is not charity at all; it’s thievery. I quit believing in Robin Hood a long time ago. When I was a child I thought as a child, when I became a man I put away childish things. Robin Hood did not only steal from the rich and give to the poor, he also lived well off the spoils; that in short is big government; “We will take from you who do work in order to supply the needs of everyone including those who are here illegally and those who do not work”, but Congress lives well off of the taxes they take from you and me. They have a lifetime of salary and healthcare that they do not pay for because of the working man and women; no wonder they relate so well to those who will not earn their own way, they are one in the same.

Last week Senator Joe Wilson shouted out “You Lie!” as the President was lying to the nation. Joe Wilson is the only person in that room who told the truth. Was his outburst inappropriate? Yes, just as it was inappropriate for the whole democratic side of Congress to openly boo President Bush whenever he was trying to speak in the same Senate Chambers. However, the very point Wilson proclaimed to be a lie, has since been exposed as a lie and one wonders if anyone would have bothered to question the truth of the statement had he remained silent in the assembly, rather than be censored, by the Senate, he ought to be thanked by the American people.

America; wake-up! NOTHING IS FREE. Whenever you are promised something for nothing there is always a bigger price tag attached to it somewhere that somebody is going to pay. “AND MANY FALSE PROPHETS SHALL RISE, AND SHALL DECEIVE MANY.” We are seeing only one. Amen!

Earth has no sorrow that Heaven cannot heal

We must be determined to forgive and diligent to never forget. The truth is when great hurt occurs forgetting may seem as impossible as forgiving; in the case of such tragedies as 9/11, we must never forget, but in all tragedies we must be willing to forgive.

We must not forget that there stands an enemy ready to defeat us if we let our guard down. An enemy who believes there eternal salvation is tied to our obliteration, an enemy who mistakenly believes they have “nothing to lose” and “paradise to gain.” We must never forget the innocent lives taken, lives which would be taken again, if the enemy were given the opportunity. We must never forget that 9/11 was an unprovoked act of war; a war that exists yet to be won either from without or within. We must forget that the absence of violence does not indicate peace; there are attacks in the planning and battles yet to be fought.

We must however, as in all occurrences of hurt also choose to actively forgive. The act of unforgiveness is paramount to one drinking poison in hopes that his enemy will die. Unforgiveness is a dark cancer that eats its host from the inside out. Forgiveness is not forgetting. Forgiveness is not vindication. Forgiveness is letting go of another person’s throat, stepping out of the way and allowing a just and good God to do what is right. Forgiveness is first for the forgiver; love heals, hate destroys. Forgiveness doesn’t lessen the wrong of the offender; it does remove the weight of the offense it from your soul and the gruesomeness of the tragedy from your mind.

So today we remember and vow to stay vigilant. However we vow to stay strong through the righteousness of our own lives and hearts. We remember innocent lives taken; honor heroes taken; we pray for the dark twisted souls who could commit such an act. We vow never to forget. We choose to forgive. And by God’s grace we will continue to stand as one Nation under God. Amen!

THE CHURCH SLEEPS ON

“AWAKE, AWAKE, PUT ON STRENGTH, O ARM OF THE LORD; AWAKE AS IN THE ACIENT DAYS” ISAIAH 51:9

It may sound flippant or even humorous to question; has the Lord’s arm fallen asleep? When you consider that the “Redeemed” are the Lord’s body, then it is very elementary to understand, that it is “WE” who have gone dead on God, not that God is in anyway restricted within Himself.

The Holy Spirit speaks through the Prophet Isaiah saying, “AWAKE, AWAKE, PUT ON STRENGTH, O ARM OF THE LORD; AWAKE AS IN THE ACIENT DAYS” yet I’m afraid the Church sleeps on.

Around us men hunger and thirst and are destroyed by sin; yet the Church sleeps on, Children lie homeless in our cities and run half naked and drug-crazed through abandoned apartments; yet the Church sleeps. We continue to build shopping mall structures of gold and glass to preserve and protect the saints as though the crop of the Lord is not already spoiled, the dying world longs for hope; yet the Church sleeps on.

Our corporate churches are run by men and women with credentials which rival those of the best CEOs in the nation as certainly they must as our houses of worship have become complexes of business. We sleepwalk through our days imagining; dreaming, that somehow we are making a difference while the Evening News tells a different story. As the lost agonize as though in childbirth in the hells of their own destruction; we recline in comfort, take satisfaction in our meetings and our classes and refuse to look beyond the stain-glass as the sanctuary; we don’t want to be disturbed, we may not be able to sleep, but we needn’t worry; for the Church sleeps on.

Our small groups and our little churches are exclusive to those who think and feel and act and look like they do; they convince themselves that all people are welcome however they feel threatened if their little core embraces anyone new; the message is alive; yet the Church sleeps on.

Do not be deceived; this message is for you and me for we are the church; the prophets see our heads nodding and he knows they do no nod out of agreement, but out of our own weariness. He sees that the Church sleeps on and so he cries out through the ages with a loud clarion call, “AWAKE, AWAKE, PUT ON STRENGTH, O ARM OF THE LORD; AWAKE AS IN THE ACIENT DAYS” and the Saints of Heaven echo AMEN!

THE RIVER OF GOD

“AND HE SHOWED ME A PURE RIVER OF WATER OF LIFE, CLEAR AS CRYSTAL, PROCEEDING OUT OF THE THRONE OF GOD AND OF THE LAMB.” REVELATIONS 22:1

There is hope for a dry and thirsty land. There is hope for the parched and dying. In the arid places where demons dwell; in the dry places where hope shrivels and visions die; there is a silent echo, a whisper of a spring which flows from deep below. A distant bubbling can be heard; refreshment not yet seen, but desperately needed.

Soon the bubbling will become a passing and a passing a torrent and a torrent a stream and the stream a mighty river clean and pure and straight from the heart of God to all who are thirsty and barren and lost.

Where do we find this river? By what path will it empty into this hostile land? The trickle begins in you for you hold within you the throne of God; the bubbling is deep within me for the Lamb of God lives within me; through the crags and the outcroppings of our embattled hearts come the hope of mankind; for the Kingdom of God lives within all who have been washed clean by the blood of the Lamb. Just as great valleys are shaped by the rushing torrents of rivers in the wilderness, so our hearts are shaped as well as small seeping becomes a trickle and the trickle become a stream and the stream becomes a creek and the creek becomes the mighty rushing river of God, which flows through us to bring life not only to ourselves but to others around us.

The river runs pure for its source is pure. This river flows clean for the Son of God has cleansed us from all our iniquities and shame. This river brings live for it teems with the life of God. God’s breath bubbles from deep with in it to give life to all who will breathe. “AND HE SHOWED ME A PURE RIVER OF WATER OF LIFE, CLEAR AS CRYSTAL, PROCEEDING OUT OF THE THRONE OF GOD AND OF THE LAMB.” AMEN!

BAD BOYS, BAD BOYS, WHAT CHA GONNA DO?

“WHEN A CRIME IS NOT PUNISHED, PEOPLE FEEL IT IS SAFE TO DO WRONG.” Ecclesiastes 8:11

There is no greater proof of this truth than the condition of our current society. Laws mean little and punishment means less. When a criminal is told that he is being sentenced to ten years; he begins calculating hat he will only do two. What would happen if a ten year sentence was actually a full ten-year sentence? What would happen if that 10 year sentence was of hard labor?

I do not understand how it is unjust to make people work hard in prison, if they are not willing to work hard and resort to crime within society. Hard labor is considered cruel; I consider crime cruel. How many sad stories have been told of countless innocent lives destroyed by repeat defenders who were out of prison early? How many of those offenders were out early because of heir “good behavior” within the controlled environment of prison? I never had trouble behaving with when my parents were in the same room either. It was always when I was left to my own resources that I broke the rules.

I once had a thirteen year old boy stand toe to toe with me and say, “If I killed you right now, they wouldn’t touch me because I’m too young! And even if they arrest me, by law, I can only be held until I am 18, then I’ll be released and you’ll still be dead. “WHEN A CRIME IS NOT PUNISHED, PEOPLE FEEL IT IS SAFE TO DO WRONG.”

Parents make the same mistake with their children; by trying to be loving and merciful they sabotage their own authority and household rules. “If you do hat ONE more time . . .” should never be in a parent’s vocabulary. I you know they disobeyed, they know they disobeyed. Delayed obedience is disobedience and punishment that is lessened isn’t punishment at all.

Think carefully what wise Solomon is saying, “WHEN A CRIME IS NOT PUNISHED, PEOPLE FEEL IT IS SAFE TO DO WRONG.”AMEN!VISIT OUR WEBSITE; http://www.newhopecommunityfellowship.com N.H.C.F. Touching Hearts - Changing Lives

IF ONLY - GOD!

I remember thinking when I was a boy in church, “if only everybody could hear a good sermon, then everybody would get saved!” But “good” preachers are preaching "good sermons" everywhere; you can see them on TV, hear them on radio and there’s a church on nearly every street corner, but sin still abounds and the world keeps getting darker all the time.

I remember as a teenager going to a concert of Christian rockers and thinking, if only we could get this music out to the world; get more than 25 people to a concert, then everybody would have to get saved the world couldn’t resist it!" And the “Christian music industry grew and went world-wide and became a multi-million dollar business and the world did hear and yet sin still abounds and the world keeps getting darker.

“If only The Beatles or Dylan would get saved, then the whole world would listen!” or so I thought; Bob did get saved and the man dubbed “the voice of his generation” was silenced as live audiences jeered him and radio stations refused to play his “Christian” songs and sin abounded and the world kept getting darker.

Christian Radio, Christian Television, Christian Books and Christian Bookstores filled with music and books and trinkets became another over-priced industry, and we thought surely “just getting the Good News out to the masses, people will hear and get saved and some did, but in large we have done more damage than good to the cause of Christ by creating an irrelevant subculture that pushes those who have yet to meet Christ yet further away and sin still abounds and the world keeps getting darker.

“The answer is ‘Worship’! If we say, “Come as you are”, make the sermons relevant and the music contemporary and sinners comfortable, then they will come and hear and be saved”, and some have come, but when has being comfortable in sin ever compelled a man to repentance? So sin still abounds and the world keeps getting darker.

After thirty years of being in the “Healing Movement”, the “Born Again Movement”, the “Jesus Movement”, he “Charismatic Movement”, the “Discipleship Movement”, the “Worship Movement” with a helping of the “Inner Healing", 'Prosperity", and the' Toronto Movements" on the side, I decided to just love God and people and let God have all the rest.

At times, this too has seemed to fail. I have been abused in my life, as a young man I was raped; but I have never been as abused as I have been abused, by the “church “and by “Christians”. The rape was nothing compared to the spiritual and emotional rape that has been perpetrated on me by more than one “Pastor”. Most of us come from dysfunctional families, but until you survive a spiritually abusive church, you have no idea what dysfunction means.

We say, “if we can only love them enough, then they will no longer hurt and they will love us in return and we can keep sin at bay and turn back the darkness", yet Jesus willingly stretched out His arms and allowed men he loved to crucify Him; fully aware that even the ultimate act of love would not be received by all.

Church family, movements of men come and go with various degrees of success or failure, but the greatest commandment is that we love God with all that we are and love others as much as we love ourselves and in spite of our best and often misguided efforts, the efforts of man will never save the world; sin still abounds and the world continues to grow keeps darker and it will until the One who is Love, Life and light makes Himself known.

IN HIM

“THE SPIRIT OF GOD HAS MADE ME, AND THE BREATH OF THE ALMIGHTY GIVES ME LIFE.” JOB 33:4

Before I was conceived into this life I was already in communion with Him who creates and calls us all. As the rain is happy to return to the ocean waters of her birth so the spirit of man rejoices to be reabsorbed into that from which he comes.

A great insatiable hunger stalks us each one until we find reunion with God; the Holy Spirit waits as an eager guide outside the heart’s door to show us the way; Christ has washed clean our path by His very blood and the Father awaits His prodigal children to find their way home. The journey begins long before air fills our lungs and continues after we cease upon this plane of life.
Whether God is amazed or amused at our aimless wanderings, I do not know; I do know He is ever present to lead us and unite with us. How pointless is most of what we fill our time with; how little we do for God or His Children; we have so little time for anyone once we are finished serving ourselves. At worse we never give God a thought, at best, most will squeeze out an hour or so a week to go though the motion of worshipping Him in a way that is most foreign to the God who calls us. Many never consider that life and worship are to be more.

Saddled by the pagan traditions of religion we must strive before we realize that there is anything more. Still the Holy Spirit waits to breathe life into us; the life we are suffocating to know. “IN GOD, I LIVE AND MOVE AND HAVE MY BEING”; as a fish absorbs and is absorbed in the water of life through which he moves, so I must absorb, be absorbed and move in His presence. What a pitiful substitute is the religion of man for a living relationship with God. How pale are routine are the obligatory gatherings of “church” when compared with the refreshing reunion of a family who loves God.

“THE SPIRIT OF GOD HAS MADE ME, AND THE BREATH OF THE ALMIGHTY GIVES ME LIFE.” Amen!

He Could HAve Built The Healing Church Of Jesus

“NOW WHEN HE SAW THE CROWDS, HE WENT UP ON A MOUNTAINSIDE AND SAT DOWN. HIS DISCIPLES CAME TO HIM, AND HE BEGAN TEACHING THEM SAYING,” MATTHEW 5:1-2

Apparently Jesus missed the “Church-Growth” Seminar. He had been praying for the sick and people were getting well and multitudes were gathering and instead of playing to the crowds, He left them.

Some translations are even clearer, but because Jesus saw crowds gathering, he fled them to teach the twelve. He began teaching THEM (the twelve) saying . . .” Why is this so important? Because it flies in the face of everything the traditional “church” holds dear; bigger is better, more equals success; the business church model is alive and well.

The popular mantra says, “If it is healthy, it will grow”, but by what standard? What is healthy growth? Is healthy growth a hundred Luke-warm believers and two on-fire disciples or 11 men who are on their way to becoming on-fire ready – to-lay-down-my-life friends of Jesus?

Many “church experts” today would instruct Jesus to capitalize upon His notoriety; exploit His success. Multitudes desired to follow His ministry, He could have built the “Healing Church of Jesus” on the spot; He didn’t. He didn’t even receive an offering. He could have spent weeks during the healing campaign to advertise His upcoming Sermon on the Mount. He could have preached this Kingdom Message to the multitudes as many paintings erroneously imply, but instead He left the crowds behind to instruct His closest companions and thereby impart Himself into 12 lives. The cynic might say, “Well that was Jesus’ mission!”

And I would then ask, “Should it not then also be our mission as well? Didn’t Jesus say that He had come and to seek and to save the lost? Weren’t there more “lost” in the multitude than in the twelve, Judas aside?

Jesus did “ministry” all wrong by our standards; even the prophet Isaiah indicates that His physical features would not make Him noticeable, “HE HAD NO BEAUTY OR MAJESTY TO ATTRACT US TO HIM, NOTHING IN HIS APPEARANCE THAT WE SHOULD DESIRE HIM.” ISAIAH 53:2 The fact that Judas has to identify Him with a kiss indicates that His appearance wasn’t different from the other Jewish men. Jesus didn’t promote His face, His Name or His ministry; He simply fulfilled it. When given multitudes, he fled them to invest in twelve.

May God help us as we strive to serve Him. Amen!

PRAYER NEEDS

Family,

My friend of nearly 30 years; Charles Weigand George & Tim's father) is in very serious condition physically. He is in the hospitel in Kentucky. He fell a couple weeks ago and hit his head. He refused to seek treatment. He was sleeping alot and getting weaker when he started experiencing paralysis. Last Sunday the family got him to the hospital near where he lives and they flew him by helicopter to Lexington Hospital for emergency surgery for a brain bleed. As of Tuesday he had some paralysis still when he was rushed back into surgery because of further bleeding. I have not heard of any further news as of today. Prayer for Charles, his wife; Dottie and all the kids.

I also just got this not from Donna Williams;

Mark is back at OSU east hospital,

His infection is back.
He is in isolation.
Please keep him in prayer!
Love & Hugs, Donna

She gave me a phone number and asked me to call him and I did. I am not sharing it atthis time because he has a serious migraine and is too sick to talk, so please pray that God deliver Mark from this Mersa Infection - it is VERY serious at this point for Mark.

Your Brother in Christ,
Gary

TIME TO RETHINK CHURCH

I once believed that a different church on every corner reflected the need for differing forms of worship according to the various personalities of people. I have come to realize that there is such division within the body of Christ, for no nobler reason that our inability to get along with one another.

The eye believes that the foot and the hand and the mouth and the head all ought to look and function just as he, the eye functions. The mouth cannot understand why the toe will not carry the same passion for speaking or tasting as he, so rather than try to function with the toe to accomplish a united vision; the mouth begins his “mouths only” church.

The metaphor for the church that dominates the New Testament is “family”, however if the Body of Christ of today is a family it is certainly the most dysfunctional family the world has ever known. This family is far from the one that is quipped to welcome the unchurched into the church family.

The American ideal of what the church is to be is far from what Jesus ever described; Hal Miller says, “UNFORTUNATELY, THE METAPHOR THAT DOMINATES MOST OF AMERICAN CHRISTIANITY DOESN’T HELP US MUCH; WE USUALLY ENVISION THE CHURCH AS A COPORATION. THE PASTOR IS THE CEO, THERE ARE COMMITTEES AND BOARDS. EVANGELISM IS THE MANUFACTURING PROCESS BY WHICH WE MAKE OUR PRODUCT, AND SALES CAN BE CHARTED, AND FORECAST. OF COURSE, THIS MANUFACTURING PROCESS GOES ON IN A GROWTH ECONOMY SO THAT ANY COPORATION-CHURCH WHOSE ANNUAL SALES FIGURES AREN’T UP FROM LAST YEAR’S IS IN TROUBLE. AMERICANS ARE QUITE SINGLE-MINDED IN THEIR CAPACITY TO THE COPORATION METAPHOR, AND IT ISN’T EVEN BIBLICAL.”

In reinstating Peter, Jesus did not say, “Do you love me? Go to church!” He said, “PETER, DO YOU LOVE ME? FEED MY SHEEP, CARE FOR MY LAMBS; in so many words, “BE THE CHURCH!” One cannot separate the call of God for one’s life from the call of God for Community. Community is not just fellowship and fellowship is not just eating at Stan’s Restaurant together with other Christians. Gilbert Bileziken says, “COMMUNITY IS DEEPLY GROUNDED IN THE NAME OF GOD. IT FLOWS FROM WHO GOD IS. BECAUSE HEIS COMMUNITY, HE CREATES COMMUNITY. IT IS HIS GIFT OF HIMSELF TO HUMANS. THEREFORE, THE MAKING OF COMMUNITY MAY NOT BE REGARDED AS OPTIONAL FOR CHRISTIANS. IT IS A COMPELLING AND IRREVOCABLE NECESSITY, A BINDING DIVINE MANDATE FOR ALL BELIEVERS AT ALL TIMES. IT IS POSSIBLE FOR HUMANS TO REJECT GOD’S COMMISION FOR THEM TO BUILD COMMUNITY AND TO BE IN COMMUNITY. BUT THIS MAY HAPPEN ONLY AT THE COST OF FORSAKING THE CREATOR OF COMMUNITY AND BETRAYING HIS IMAGE IN US; THIS COST IS ENORMOUS, SINCE HIS IMAGE IN US IS THE ESSENTIAL ATTRIBUTE THAT DEFINES HUMANITY.”

There is no struggle within the community of the Godhead of the Trinity; Jesus does not resent the Holy Spirit for having separate desires or function, God the Father doesn’t resent that God the Son walked among us, in skin as one of us and He hasn’t; no, God is community. Community accepts, receives believes and supports.

How do you define church?

YOU HAVE HEARD IT SAID . . .

“YOU HAVE HEARD IT SAID, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AND HATE YOUR ENEMY.’ BUT I SAY TO YOU, LOVE YOUR ENEMIES, BLESS THOSE WHO CURSE YOU, DO GOOD TO THOSE WHO HATE YOU, AND PRAY FOR THOSE WHO SPITEFULLY USE YOU AND PERSECUTE YOU, THAT YOU MAY BE SONS OF YOUR FATHER IN HEAVEN; FOR HE MAKES THE SUN RISE ON THE EVIL AND ON THE GOOD, AND SENDS RAIN ON THE JUST AND ON THE UNJUST.” MATTHEW 4:43-45

This is the test isn’t it? To be a Christian is to live in opposition to your natural nature; it means to love those who hate you and to good to those who use you. There is no place within the believing heart for malice; no secret room where it is safe to store anger or revenge, no peg upon which you are to hang grudges.

Have we not been told, even if we perform all manner of miracle and yet do not love that our actions are useless? How easy it is to “love” those who love us; how easy it is to give if when we think there is a possibility of return or reward for such gifts. Sincere love is however when we sacrifice knowing there is nothing to be gained; greater love is when we give just as freely while understanding that we are being used.

We do not love for our sakes; we love for those around us, showing them the unconditional love of their Heavenly Father. Though our love is always tempered by our humanness, we can in small ways hint at the boundless depths of the Father’s love for us all.

God gives abundantly to all His children; the sun shines upon the good, the bad and the ugly, while the rain refreshes both those who are fair and those who are unfair.

Believer, your job is simple, but there is nothing easy in it; that is it is uncomplicated, but not easy to perform; Jesus says,
“YOU HAVE HEARD IT SAID, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AND HATE YOUR ENEMY.’ BUT I SAY TO YOU, LOVE YOUR ENEMIES, BLESS THOSE WHO CURSE YOU, DO GOOD TO THOSE WHO HATE YOU, AND PRAY FOR THOSE WHO SPITEFULLY USE YOU AND PERSECUTE YOU, THAT YOU MAY BE SONS OF YOUR FATHER IN HEAVEN; FOR HE MAKES THE SUN RISE ON THE EVIL AND ON THE GOOD, AND SENDS RAIN ON THE JUST AND ON THE UNJUST.” AMEN!

A Man Most Content

I sat with a man today; a man most content

I spoke but never an answer gave he,
He was troubled neither by thought or rebuttal

I shifted in my chair after some time,
My weary bones aching from toil and age
But he who kept me company was most relaxed,
without even the slightest twinge of pain

I challenged him with politics, religion and moral debate
Like a skilled listener, he held his tongue; as though both heart and mind were locked away

He had neither a worry nor care
He felt neither an ache nor pain
No matter how I rambled
His silence convinced me of his vast wisdom
And his greater self-control

His appearance was perfect;
He looked younger than he had in years
His hair was neatly combed, every hair in place
His clothing without spot or wrinkle
And His very presence caused me to pause; to consider

For who is the man who is most content?
Who is the man without worry, thought or care;
Who is the man without ache or pain,
who is the man looking better today than he has for years?
Who is this man who is the picture of control and repose?

He is the man who is dead
He who lies so quietly in his casket
Perfectly at ease without the slightest tinge of dread
He is the man who is most content; the man who is already dead.

8/21/2009 Gary L. Holman

LOOK TO GOD

“TROUBLE AND DISTRESS HAVE COME UPON ME, BUT YOUR COMMANDS ARE MY DELIGHT.”PSALM 119:143

Nothing touches the heart of a parent as much as the concern for the well-being of a son or daughter. Other troubles may camp at your door routinely; other trials pass, at times nearly unnoticed, but when are children are in danger or making risking decisions or participating in risky behavior, our lives can come to a screeching stop.

The worry, the concern, the heart-ache and the sorrow can consume us; how we want to make their decisions for them. In such times, we need to remember the laws of God are in place. His Word is true and if He cares for you and me, He will certainly care for our children and loved ones as well.

Jesus said, “IN THIS WORLD YOU WILL HAVE TROUBLES, BUT I HAVE OVERCOME THE WORLD.” You and I must cry out to God with loud voices; “we trust you God, we know that you are God and you are good and merciful and just!

In as much as we love our children; in as much as we love our parents; in as much as we love our spouses, He loves them more. When we have done all that we can to teach them and guide them and care for them and love them; then the test comes for us to release them,

It is God’s Word that orders the lives of His children; we must place our trust in His commands.

FATHER GOD, W COME TO YOU AND WE ASK FOR STRENGTH. Allow the angels to intervene on our behalf. As trials and troubles rise around us like a flood we place our trust in the security of your commands. Speak where we cannot speak; say what we cannot say, direct and protect those we love for where our arms are too short, your love never fails. In Jesus mighty name, we pray; Amen!

IN WHOM WILL YOU TRUST?

“YOU HAVE PLANTED MUCH BUT HARVESTED LITTLE. YOU HAVE FOOD TO EAT, BUT NOT ENOUGH TO FILL YOU UP. YOU HAVE WINE TO DRINK, BUT NOT ENOUGH TO SATISFY YOUR THIRST. YOU HAVE CLOTHING TO WEAR, BUT NOT ENOUGH TO KEEP YOU WARM. YOUR WAGES DISAPPEAR AS THOUGH YOU WERE PUTTING THEM IN POCKETS FILLED WITH HOLES!” HAGGAI 1:6

The prophet speaks to the condition of those who disobey God. There is no success a part form the blessing of God.

As conditions around us deteriorate our only hope is in the mercy and grace of God. Men look to men, but the ways of men are riddled with selfish intent. Only God gives graciously and freely and abundantly; only God has the unlimited resources to satisfy all our needs and the ability to keep us in spite of enduring trials.

If you find yourself frustrated with each step, perhaps you should reevaluate with whom you are walking. If you your good faith comes back to you void, perhaps you should reconsider in whom you are placing your good faith.

As David reminds us, “I HAVE BEEN YOUNG, AND NOW I AM OLD; YET I HAVE NOT SEEN THE RIGHTEOUS FORSAKEN, NOR HIS SEED BEGGING FOR BREAD.” PSALM 37:25

Hold Tight Your Shield

“AS FOR GOD, HIS WAY IS PERFECT; THE WORD OF THE LORD IS PROVEN; HE IS A SHIELD TO ALL WHO TRUST IN HIM.” 2 SAMUEL 22:21

This fallen world is full of opportunity for compromise. Following our deceitful hearts, we so easily compromise what we know to be truth; we compromise our health; physically, emotionally, mentally and unless we remind ourselves of God’s goodness to us; we too often compromise ourselves spiritually.

Hear the words of the man of God; embrace the wisdom of lessons learned, remind yourself of your Father whose heart is broken by our willful sin.

“AS FOR GOD, HIS WAY IS PERFECT”; For our sake’ “THOU SHALT NOT. . .” is written. Being the One who created us, He knows what is most profitable for us. Our sin does not threaten His Lordship; it breaks His heart, for us. He knows the destruction that awaits His rebellious children. “FOR THE WAGES OF SIN IS DEATH, BUT THE GIFT OF GOD IS ETERNAL LIFE THROUGH CHRIST JESUS OUR LORD!” ROMANS 6:23

“THE WORD OF THE LORD IS PROVEN; God’s communication is perfect. His Word is a Light unto our way, Lamp unto our feet; life and that abundant and eternal. The more the darkness of the world assails us, the more we need His Light, the more confusing the path before us the more we need His direction; the more death surrounds us and demands that we make more of it than we ought; His Word reminds us and keeps us; “OH DEATH, WHERE IS THY STING? O GRAVE, WHERE IS THY VISTORY?” 1 CORINTHIANS 15:55

“HE IS A SHIELD TO ALL WHO TRUST IN HIM.” Only a ruthless, conniving, deceptive enemy would convince his foe to drop his shield in the heat of battle; only sin-prone man could be foolish enough to do so, yet how often, at the very time we have need to place all our trust in God, do we choose to abandon such trust; do we push aside God who is our shield.


About 30 years ago, after faithfully fighting the enemy for years, in an area of my life. I let down my shield; I let down God. I listened to my heart; I reasoned with my brain and I choose to ignore the counsel of the Word of God for this area of my life. I felt abandoned by God and man and so I pushed aside the shield who had been protecting me from the firey darts of the enemy. Without God to keep me the projectiles hit their mark and I fell wounded and dying.

In the heat of battle, out of loneliness and fear and sorrow and feeling abandoned, I compromised God’s will for my life; after years of flirting with temptation; I sinned, and my world tumbled. I suffered tremendous loss.

And even though I eventually sought and found God’s forgiveness; even though I would recommit to God’s will in the situation; even though by His great mercy, like Job, I was given back everything I had lost and more; my greatest sin came when I failed to continue to trust God to resurrect what was already dead; I failed when I pushed God who is my shield away and leaned unto my own hurt and twisted understanding.

Oh, how I should have said, ‘WHAT TIMES I AM AFRAID, I WILL TRUST IN GOD!” PSALM 56:3

“AS FOR GOD, HIS WAY IS PERFECT; THE WORD OF THE LORD IS PROVEN; HE IS A SHIELD TO ALL WHO TRUST IN HIM.” 2 SAMUEL 22:21 Every day in big and small ways we have opportunity to prove or fail God; my prayer is that you hold tight toGod who is your shield. AMEN!

SPIRITUAL LEADERSHIP

“THINK OF ME AS A FELLOW-PATIENT IN THE SAME HOSPITAL WHO, HAVING BEEN ADMITTED A LITTLE EARLIER, COULD GIVE SOME ADVICE.” C.S. LEWIS

I adopted a new way of considering what it means to be a pastor; this is not a new perspective, I believe as much as it is the correct perspective. My vision of who pastors are to be is less authoritarian; more visionary, less elevated; more comrade, less religious relic; more human and subject to life as all others.

A pastor is perhaps walking with you on an unknown trail, but not necessarily pointing out the directions as much as he is helping you to find them along with himself, He may know where he wants to go, but he is convinced that God will speak through anyone present to help get everyone there together. He places more confidence in God; less in himself. He listens to the voice of God through others, as much as he listens for the voice of God within Himself.

His title means little; it is his heart that sets him apart. C.S. Lewis describes a spiritual leader well when he says, “THINK OF ME AS A FELLOW-PATIENT IN THE SAME HOSPITAL WHO, HAVING BEEN ADMITTED A LITTLE EARLIER, COULD GIVE SOME ADVICE.”

How liberating such an attitude brings! It is not MY church or MY people; it is NOT MY responsibility to make people attend, grow or remain. God calls a group of people together to be his church and we leaders merely assist in finding a time and place to grow together; what happens beyond that, is up to God and to those who are called to come together.

Where is this Church? A part of it is in O.S.U. East Hospital this morning, another part is working at the laundry on Route 3, another part is attending to children at a day care in Sunbury, and another part of it is in Whitehall, Reynoldsburg and on Cleveland Avenue. The Church is not a place or a location, the Church is the people of God and the Church is wherever God’s people are gathered. We meet, where we can.

God help humility replace arrogance, love replace ambition, earnest submission replace manipulation, vision replace schemes, faith replace self-preservation, The Holy Spirit Ministry replace man-directed programs. Amen!

DO NOT BE DECEIVED

“BE NOT DECEIVED; GOD IS NOT MOCKED: FOR WHATEVER MAN SOWS, THAT SHALL HE ALSO REAP.” GALATIANS 6:7

Believer, do NOT think for a New York Minute that you cannot be deceived.

The prophet told us, “THE HEART IS DECEITFUL ABOVE ALL THINGS, AND DESPERATELY WICKED: WHO CAN KNOW IT?” JEREMIAH 17:9 So the advice, “Just follow your heart” is horrible advice; your heart will deceive you more times than not. You need to follow the Word of God which does NOT change. In it there is light and life.

I was a young man and now I am old; I have learned a few things, some through very painful lessons, that help be avoid deception; for example,

if I need to ask whether a situation is right for me – it isn’t!

If I want to know if my attitude or my actions are ok than I need to examine whether of not I would ever be ashamed of them.


For example, “Am I being too friendly with a member of the opposite sex? Would I behave the same way if my wife were present?

Should I look at something on the computer? Would I look at it with my Pastor or a member of my church?


Should I say this? Would I say it in front of the person it concerns?

Relationships are built or torn apart due to
trust or lack of it;
communication or lack of it,
nurturing or lack of it.

Here is another simple truth; If an action of mine offends my wife, that should be reason enough for me not to pursue it further; whether I feel it is right of me or not, as a married man if it’s not right with her, it’s not right for us, if it’s not right for us, it’s not right for me.

Perhaps I didn’t realize that this limitation would come with this relationship, but if I am committed to my relationship, I must do what is best for it, sometimes to my temporary chagrin (she does the same for me). Relationships are give and take – sometimes you give-up something you love for your mate and sometimes she does the same for you.

When you argue (and you will) the argument should not be about who is right and who is wrong, but how can we resolve this difference and each grow closer to God through it?

Finally, you never get away with ANYTHING. You can call it Karma; I call it the law of God – what goes around comes around. EVERYONE thinks they will never get caught; EVERYONE does sooner or later, but you will get caught and you will pay the highest price for your bad decision.

How did the serpent win over Eve? Through deceit and lies, “Surely this isn’t wrong – God will understand!” “REMEMBER, IT IS SIN TO KNOW WHAT YOU OUGHT TO DO AND THEN NOT DO IT.” JAMES 4:17 But be care also that you are not deceived. Forget your emotions; what does the Word of God say? What does God want you to do? Do you really need to ask?


“BE NOT DECEIVED; GOD IS NOT MOCKED: FOR WHATEVER MAN SOWS, THAT SHALL HE ALSO REAP.”

CARNAL OR SPIRITUAL?

The carnal man demands his rights. The carnal man wants to live at the edge of Sodom where he can flirt with sin without being marked by it. Such a desire is foolish for no flirtation with sin can leave us unmarked. Carnal man takes the blessings of God and uses them for his own enjoyment, promotion and comfort. The carnal man needs the law to bring control to his behavior he himself is not willing to control. The carnal man lives for himself.

The spiritual man understands that he has no rights. The spiritual man wants to live as far away from sin as he possibly can for he understands that even the passing shadow of sin will leave him scarred. The spiritual man recognizes the blessings that come from God to be vehicles of salvation for those who are yet to come. The spiritual man only needs the Word of God to direct him; it is the “LAMP UNTO HIS FEET” in a darkened sinful world. The spiritual man lives for others.

2 CORINTHIANS 6:14 “DON’T TEAM UP WITH THOSE WHO ARE UNBELIEVERS. HOW CAN GOODNESS BE A PARTNER WITH WICKEDNESS? HOW CAN LIGHT LIVE WITH DARKNESS?

Life is often difficult; there are few seasons of pure joy; where there are no heartaches or challenges. We cannot control what tomorrow brings into our lives, but we can choose how will respond to those challenges. Our response can determine the outcome of many more tomorrows; our tomorrows and the tomorrows of our children and our children’s children.

It is natural to seek to ease our pain, but we must be cautious for the most immediate answers are seldom the permanent solutions; “THERE IS A WAY THAT SEEMS RIGHT TO A MAN, BUT THE END THEREOF ARE THE WAYS OF DEATH. PROVERBS 16:25

Hear the voice of Jesus, “COME TO ME, ALL YOU WHO LABOR AND ARE BURDENED DOWN, AND I WILL GIVE YOU REST. MATTHEW 11:28

The carnal man excuses his sin until it has grown and overtaken him and destroyed the blessings of God in His life. The spiritual man avoids even “THE APPEARANCE OF EVIL” that God might shine forth and strengthen his life for the difficult days ahead. Amen!