Archive for the ‘Christian Living’ Category
The Veterans Of That Other War
The Veterans Of That Other War
I am proud to be an American. My body still gets that special chill at the singing of the Star Spangled Banner. I stand when it is played. I also place my hand over my heart. I have no problem with the Pledge of Allegiance and saying “under God”.
I highly honor all who have served our great country. I owe you a great debt. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Howard Davis - Navy
Eric Marxer - Marines
My father-in-law, Bishop Howard H. Davis served in the Navy in WWII. My brother-in-law, Eric Marxer served in the Marines. I am proud of them and their service. I continue to enjoy freedoms because of them and others like them. I thank them especially today.
When I see a military person in the mall, airport or restaurant, I always thank them for serving our country. I even thank policemen for serving and protect our community. Their responses are always heartfelt.
If then, I take the time to thank the men and women, who serve my community and my country, why stop there? Why not thank those today who have given their years serving the Lord.
I thank every minister of the Gospel. But, I also wish to thank the faithful saints of God for remaining faithful in your service to the Lord. You have faithfully served Him through trials, sickness, compromise, rejection, rumors, and turmoil at church, on the job and at home. You have served Him when you’ve had to stand all by yourself. You have lived the life.
You have served without being honored or recognized. You have been faithful and fought the good fight of faith. Someday you will hear, “Well done thou good and faithful servant.”
Today, I salute you and thank you for your service to the Lord.
The Old Oregon Trail, And The Apostle John
The Old Oregon Trail, And The Apostle John
No, the Apostle John never travelled the Oregon Trail. Yet, there is a common thread here and a simple truth worth sharing, found in their stories.
Ezra Meeker
Ezra Meeker
In the early 1920’s Ezra Meeker, the world-famous wagon train master, walked into my grandfather’s Oregon City Art Studio. My mother’s father, Turner Hubble Gleason, had been commissioned to paint the portrait of one of the most prominent citizens of the state of Oregon. A copy of his portrait remains in our family to this day.
By now, Mr. Meeker was a very old man. His beard was full and long and his hair white. His steps were still steady. His life had been filled with more adventure than most men could ever dream about. He had seen his life’s dreams come true.
“Before his death in 1928, just a few days shy of his 98th birthday, Ezra Meeker had not only walked the Oregon Trail several times, he’d ridden along it in an automobile and aboard a train, and flown over it in an airplane: he’d come a long way, and for many his story symbolized the opportunities that had been available on the frontier.” – http://www.lib.washington.edu/exhibits/frontier/local/case8.html
He had met with Indians. He had become friends with Indian Chiefs and had even driven his ox team to Washington to meet with President Teddy Roosevelt and several congressmen. The President had even walked out of the White House to see Ezra Meeker’s ox team and to talk of his future plans for him.
As the last Wagon Master to lead a train over the Oregon Trail, Mr. Meeker had been called on to verify the trail for the building of a new federal highway.
Unscrupulous men for years had side-tracked the unsuspecting traveler on the trail with their bogus signs. Signs with arrows proclaiming such things as “Custer’s Last Stand.”
In reality, the side trails took the weary and naïve off the true trail. To their dismay, they found that this was just a trading post or curio shop.
There was much confusion for the unsuspecting traveller. Something had to be done to straighten out the true Oregon Trail.
The President commissioned Ezra Meeker to guide surveyors, engineers and project managers to show them the original trail… The Old Oregon Trail.
Regardless of what the current signs said, Meeker ignored them and fully trusted his memory of the trail. He had spent a lifetime climbing every mountain and crossing every river. He knew the trail. That’s why they had chosen him.
Oregon Trail pioneer Ezra Meeker erected this boulder near Pacific Springs on Wyoming's South Pass in 1906.
Meeker, would say things like:
- “We crossed the river right here.
- “We went up the mountain on this side.
- “Over there is where we made camp.
- “Right here is the trail, ignore what that sign over there says.”
He then would remark the trail with his own signs that said. “Old Oregon Trail”
Because of Ezra Meeker’s life experience with the trail, the United States government trusted only him to lay the trail out right.
When the final stake was driven, they began construction of the famous east-west highway. Today, they call it, U.S. Highway 30. It remains as true as possible to the original trail.
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The Apostle John
Mr. John Phillips in his commentary on the Gospel of John, starts his preface with something similar to this…
Matthew, Mark, and Luke were all dead. Peter, the Prince of Apostles had died too. John was the first, and now the last Apostle. He alone of all the Apostles remained alive.
He was approximately 90 years old. Banished on the Island of Patmos, he began to write to his children in the Lord. He wrote as if he was the last defender of the New Testament doctrine.
Already the church was beginning to drift. They were deviating from the old paths in doctrine and in separation from the world, among other things. Grievous wolves had entered the flock.
His Epistles were the last known attempt to set the record straight. He had traveled the Trail of Truth from the very start. He wasn’t about to let anyone pervert this glorious message.
He drove down verbal markers and stakes, fearlessly proclaiming the message. It was the message that Jesus had given to the Disciples. The only message the Apostles ever preached.
John was prepared to die. But before dying, he was making sure that generations to come would know the Truth. As he made each point and drove it home, he would say: “This is…” He left no room for error.
“This Is Our Message”
- He Began His Gospel and Epistles Saying, This Is The Most Important Revelation.
- That There Is Only One God. His name Is Jesus!
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
John 1:2 The same was in the beginning with God.
He then went on to proclaim in his epistles to the churches, the true Message.
1.) “This is the Promise.”
1John 2:25 And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life.
2.) “This is the Message.”
1John 3:11 For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.
3.) “This is His Commandment.”
1John 3:23 And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.
4.) “This is the spirit of the Antichrist.”
1John 4:3 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.
5.) “This is the Love of God.”
1John 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.
6.) “This is the Victory.”
1John 5:4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.
7.) “This is He.”
1John 5:6 This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth.
8.) “This is the Witness of God.”
1John 5:9 If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son.
9.) “This is the Record.”
1John 5:11 And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
8.) “This is the Confidence.”
1John 5:14 And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:
9.) “This is the True God.”
1John 5:20 And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.
10.) “This is Love.”
2John 6 And this is love, that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment, That, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it.
11.) “This is a Deceiver and an Antichrist.”
2John 7 For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.
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If you ever plan to drive to the state of Oregon and arrive there safely, one of the men you can thank is Ezra Meeker. He did everything he could to make sure that generations to come would follow the “Old Oregon Trail.”
If you ever plan to go to heaven and see Him who is God manifested in the flesh, one of the men you can thank, is the Apostle John. He did everything he could to keep the New Testament Church following “The Apostolic Message.”
Obey Acts 2:38
All He Ever Wanted, Was Someone To Love Him
All He Ever Wanted, Was Someone To Love Him
Proverbs 30:18 There be three things which are too wonderful for me, yea, four which I know not:
Proverbs 30:19 The way of an eagle in the air; the way of a serpent upon a rock; the way of a ship in the midst of the sea; and the way of a man with a maid.
All He Ever Wanted Was For Someone To Love Him.
He had it all.
Actually, He had everything.
Well, He had everything, except one thing.
He had no one to love Him.
He had Angels who praised Him continuously.
He had Angels who did His bidding without question.
But He had no one to love Him.
He had no one to dote on Him.
He had received honor before.
He had received praise before.
But He had never been loved before.
He had never seen love demonstrated.
He had never seen love displayed.
He had never seen love expressed or shown.
He had never seen romance before.
He understood things like physics, gravity, light, sound, space travel and how to make something out of nothing.
He understood emotions like rebellion, pride and obedience.
He just wanted to know more about this thing called love.
He had always heard over 10,000 Hallelujahs at any given moment of every day.
He heard multitudes cry “Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty” every day.
What He’d never heard was some one say, “I love you!”
He knew the journey to finding love would be long.
He had seen twinkles in stars before, but never in an eye.
His plan already included man, Calvary and the Church.
He was prepared to do whatever it took to get a bride.
He wanted to find someone to love Him.
He spoke and the heavens and the earth came into existence.
By His own words, the sun, moon and stars were created and flung perfectly into space.
By His own voice, light was created, flowers and trees sprung up.
He said the words, and fish, birds and animals appeared.
He looked it all over and said. “That’s good.”
Then He stopped talking.
Adam And Eve
He knelt down on the ground and with His hands he began to form someone He could love. He called the man, Adam. The woman, was named Eve.
He loved them. He visited every day. They walked and talked together every day without distraction.
He watched Adam and Eve smile at one another. He saw how Adam responded to Eve’s touch and Eve to Adam’s.
He watched them hold hands and kiss.
He liked what He saw. He saw the twinkle in Adams eye. He saw romance in its purest form.
He tried to imagine a mere mortal loving Him.
His mind raced ahead thousands of years. He thought of Himself and the Church. He pondered about His bride-to-be. “So… this is what it’s going to be like to be in love!”
He’d never been in love before. He saw Adam and Eve enjoying each other’s company. He told Himself, “That’s the kind of love I want. That’s the kind of romance I want.”
He so enjoyed being with Adam and Eve, that He turned His attention from the sounds of “Hallelujah” and “Holy-Holy” for a few hours everyday just to come and see them.
He had no competition in the love department on earth. Maybe they would fall in love with Him.
Then came the heart-wrenching day when the evil serpent beguiled Eve. Sin, the enemy of the Most Holy One entered the picture. Paradise was no more.
Pain, sorrow, shame and regret now entered the picture. The hope of Adam and Eve continuing their relationship with Him was over. Sin did it’s best to destroy that relationship.
They chose to listen to the voice of His enemy rather than listen to His voice.
All He Ever Wanted Was For Someone To Love Him.
Enoch
Seven generations later, a man was born by the name of Enoch. He heard his father and grandfather talk about Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. He heard the stories about God walking with them in the cool of the day.
Enoch began to imagine what it would be like to have God for a friend. That seemed to be all he could think about.
He inquired often of his family, asking them many questions, hoping to hear more stories about those precious days. He even got to talk to Adam himself and listened intently. He dreamed of having a similar experience with God.
One day Enoch started calling on the Lord as he walked. He began talking to God as if He was beside him. The Lord did appear beside him and they began walking together and talking together every day.
Enoch was perfect in God’s eyes. His love thrilled the Lord. This was true love. Here was someone who chose to love Him, who took time out of their day and focused only on Him.
They walked and talked together every day for years. Then one day while they were walking, the sun started going down.
The Lord noticed it too. He also knew it was a long way back to Enoch’s house. So He said, “Enoch, it’s closer to my house, than it is to yours. Why don’t you come on home with me?” Enoch said, “Yes.”
“And Enoch was not, for the Lord took him.”
All He Ever Wanted Was For Someone To Love Him.
Israel
He looked the world over and His eyes fell upon her. He could really love her. Her father was a Hittite and her mother was an Amorite. But He didn’t hold that against her.
He stood there looking at her, watching her. She was beautiful to Him.
She had no family, no one to look after her. There was no one else that loved her.
She was unwanted and unloved by every one else in the world. She was considered second class and discarded by those who knew her.
- She wasn’t beautiful, but He loved her.
- She wasn’t rich, but He loved her.
- She wasn’t mighty, but He loved her.
- She wasn’t even faithful, but He loved her.
He, the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, the First and the Last, The Lord God Almighty tried vainly to woo her. He did every thing He could to show her He could supply her every need.
He was the richest Man in the world and of all the people in the world; He chose her, the poorest of all. He alone could make her prosper. She wasn’t impressed for long.
He showed her things about Himself that no one else had ever known. He gave her some names she could call Him by that would reveal His protecting love for her.
- Jehovah Jireh – The Lord will Provide.
- Jehovah Rapha – The Lord our Healer.
- Jehovah Nissi – The Lord our Banner
- Jehovah Shalom – The Lord our Peace
- Jehovah Raah – The Lord our Shepherd
- Jehovah Tsidkenu – The Lord our Righteousness
- Jehovah Shammah – The Lord is Present
When she got sick, He made sure she got well. When she was hungry, He provided food for her and took care of her every need.
He loved her, and yet she wasn’t happy with Him. Her heart easily turned aside. She often looked at others the way He wished she would look at Him. It grieved Him continually.
While still on their honeymoon, problems arose. They hadn’t been gone from Egypt a month and things turned ugly. Before He could even get her to the Promised Land and the home He had given her, she showed her unhappiness.
He talked with Moses about His plans for her and gave him detailed instructions.
But before Moses could talk to her she started looking at someone else. She began to dress to please them. She brazenly displayed her disdain for His wishes.
- She murmured.
- She complained.
- She rebelled.
- She flaunted herself in front of others.
- She became brazen.
- She couldn’t even blush.
It broke His heart. Yet He fought for her when everyone tried to kill her. He supplied her every need. He cared for her more than she cared for Him.
He still loved her. He sent her letters, but she ignored them. Even after she got settled in her new home, she started looking for other lovers.
She played the harlot and was unfaithful to Him. She only dressed to please Him if she was in the mood. She often saw others that attracted her and she dressed and displayed herself in a way to please them. She longed for their affections, not His.
All He Ever Wanted Was For Someone To Love Him.
Hosea
No one seemed to care how He felt. He had no one to share His pain and problems with.
In His Divine Heartache, He looked upon His prophet, Hosea. Hosea was unmarried.
He told Hosea to marry a woman who stood on the street corners at night. “Just go pick a prostitute, anyone will do.”
He wanted someone to feel like He felt, every day.
He wanted to see again how mere mortals handled rejection from those they loved.
Hosea found such a girl. Her name was Gomer. Everyone in town knew Hosea. They were shocked at his choice of a wife. In their minds she was trash.
- She had dirtied herself.
- She had lowered herself.
- She had ruined her name.
- She would destroy their marriage.
- Of all the girls, why pick her?
The romance burned brightly and then quickly faded. The Lord watched how their love life went.
He watched Gomer sweeten his coffee with her kisses and then walk out the door disappearing for long periods of time.
Then came the babies. Their very names carried not only a prophecy to Israel, but also a wake up call to Hosea about his two-timing wife.
- Jezreel, “God will disperse”
- Lo-ruhamah, “Not pitied, or No Mercy”
- Lo-ammi, “Not my people”
Hosea could tell by the names he named his children that he was not their father.
Gomer eventually got so involved in her wild lifestyle that she was overpowered and put into slavery by one of her lovers. She later was placed on an auction block and sold like a farm animal.
Hosea got word that his wife was being sold. He knew what she was and what she had done. But he loved her in spite of it all.
Anyone can tell by what he paid for her, that he gave all the money he had and emptied out his meager panty besides. He gave his all to buy her back. He paid fifteen pieces of silver, and 1½ homers of barley.
All He Ever Wanted Was For Someone To Love Him.
The Lord watched as Hosea gave all he had to buy his unfaithful wife back.
He turned his attention again to Israel. She wasn’t on an auction block. She wasn’t held against her will. She was happy to be unfaithful.
So He wrote her a bill of divorcement and He didn’t talk to her for 400 years.
All He Ever Wanted Was For Someone To Love Him.
Calvary
One day, He finally stepped into His closet and clothed Himself in a robe of flesh. He was born in Bethlehem to a young virgin.
He chose not to arrive in splendor, so He came to earth in obscurity. He came as God manifested in the flesh. He walked almost unnoticed around her.
He didn’t make Himself handsome so that she would love Him for His good looks. He wanted her to love Him for who He was, not what He looked like.
But He came unto His own and His own received Him not. They didn’t believe Him.
He wept.
His love was everlasting. Her love was fickle.
She tried to find fault with Him. She only followed Him for what He could give them.
He wanted to talk.
She was too busy, too preoccupied.
He said to her, “You say you love Me, but you say that only with your lips. It’s just words. Your heart is far from Me. You don’t love Me with your heart.”
He saw her as she really was. A slave. She was in bondage and held fast by her own sins.
He knew He was the only One that could redeem her.
He willing offered Himself on Calvary for Her. He willingly gave His all to buy her back. He gave His blood to wash away her sins and He arose on the third day to give her hope of a new life.
All He Ever Wanted Was For Someone To Love Him.
The Church
Over 2,000 years have come and gone. He’s ready now to take His bride to a home He has prepared just for her.
He wanted someone who would love Him enough to heed all of His Word. After all, if she really loved Him, she would keep His commandments. Not pick and choose which ones she liked. He was in love, why wasn’t she?
Yet He sees her still looking at the world. Some times she tries harder to please her other lovers than she does Him.
- She has started complaining again if she thinks He’s asking her to dress a certain way just for Him. She doesn’t act like she is in love with Him.
- She doesn’t act like she is in love with Him. She says, “He doesn’t care how I dress. He doesn’t look on the outside. He only looks on the inside, on the heart.”
- But when He looked in her heart, He saw nothing there that looked like love to Him. She doesn’t act like she is in love with Him.
- She dreads talking to Him on a daily basis. She doesn’t act like she is in love with Him.
- She doesn’t think about Him during the course of the day. She doesn’t act like she is in love with Him.
- Yet she talks freely to everyone else but Him. She doesn’t act like she is in love with Him.
- All she seems to want is a sugar daddy. She doesn’t act like she is in love with Him.
- She has to be begged to visit at His house. She doesn’t act like she is in love with Him.
- He blesses her with money and yet she is not faithful in her tithe to Him. She doesn’t act like she is in love with Him.
- He sends blessings her way and loads her down daily with benefits. She soon forgets. She doesn’t act like she is in love with Him.
- He sends healing to her every situation. She doesn’t act like she is in love with Him.
- He calms her storms of life. She doesn’t act like she is in love with Him.
- She has all the songs memorized and sings them without feeling. She doesn’t act like she is in love with Him.
- She hears His Word preached and chooses which parts she likes and doesn’t like. She doesn’t act like she is in love with Him.
- He says He’s coming to get her and she’s not even looking out the window for Him. She doesn’t act like she is in love with Him.
- He says He is coming to get and to take her to heaven with Him; and she is not even making herself ready. She doesn’t act like she is in love with Him.
He knew it would happen this way.
A long time ago He said that she would love pleasure more than she loved Him.
He said that her love would wax cold.
He said she would leave her 1st love.
And He was right.
All He Ever Wanted Was For Someone To Love Him.
You
Do you love Him? I mean, do you really love Him? Do you love Him with all of your heart? He wants to know.
He wants to know if you love another. Do you?
He wants to know if your heart belongs only to Him or not. Does it?
He’s looking for a bride that will love Him with all of her heart, her soul her mind, and her strength.
Could that person be you? He’s looking your way right now. He wants it to be you.
All He Ever Wanted Was For Someone To Love Him.
The Shortest Sermon I Ever Preached
The Shortest Sermon I Ever Preached
No one believes I have ever preached a real short sermon, but I have. Well, once anyway. I am sorry you were not there. We sure got out early!
I was still pastoring in South Bend, Indiana at the time. I walked to the pulpit on a Sunday night, and everyone stood while I made my pre-sermon announcements.
We all read together from the book of Psalms:
Psalm 19:14 Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.
While the congregation still stood, I said, “Don’t say anything or do anything this week that would make Jesus unhappy with you.”
I paused for about 10 seconds while that sunk in. I then said, ‘You are dismissed.”
The Scripture reading, my whole sermon, and the dismissal took no more than 30 seconds. They were shocked. Happy to get out early, but still shocked. Nevertheless the people never forgot what scripture I read and what I had asked of them. That was, after all, the whole point.
When they retold the event to others, they would be asked, “What did he preach?” Then they would have to quote the verse in Psalms and repeat my admonition. That was the purpose of my 30 second sermon.
My advice is still the same to my readers today. Don’t say anything or do anything this week that would make Jesus unhappy with you!
Be Careful And Be Blessed.
Professional Wine Connoisseurs Are In Your Church!
Professional Wine Connoisseurs Are In Your Church!
They’re a snobbish lot. Some, if not most, may consider themselves a marked cut above the general population.
After all, their sensory gifts are able to determine the “great” from the “mundane” or even from the “good.”
Some are so good, that just by tasting they can tell you the name of the wine and the year it was bottled.
They also run in very elite circles and hobnob with the movers and shakers in town. Good wines cost a lot of money. So it they aren’t blessed with the green stuff, they hang out with those that are.
From time to time in the upper-crust circles, wine tastings are hosted. Often, it is even a black tie event.
The Sniff
The connoisseurs know their stuff. They all know that judging the color is the first step in tasting wine.
There are five basic steps in tasting wine I am told: These are sometimes known as the “Five S” steps: see, swirl, sniff, sip, savor.
The Sip
Then comes the scoring of the wine.
1. The appearance of the wine,
2. The nose or smell,
3. The palate or taste, and
4. Overall.
After watching the wine tasters swirl the wine in the goblet, sniff the bouquet, sip it and then hold it momentarily in their mouth… they spit it out. That’s right.
The Spit
There are even websites that boast that they can teach you how to spit wine like a pro.
Expectoration may have been the last thing some would have expected. But the connoisseur, the professional wine taster, chooses not to swallow. He is not here to drink. He has come to judge.
I suppose that in the secular world their logic makes sense. The problem is, that the same thing is being done in God’s House.
Who would have thought it? Of all the places wine tasters could have met, most of them seem to meet in our churches.
“What are they doing in our churches?”
“Why, they are wine tasting of course!”
“During the service?”
“Sure!”
“During the preaching?”
“Why, that’s when they do it the most!”
They sit there listening.
They can’t afford to get inebriated like others around them.
They look at the color as they swish it around in their glass.
They sniff at the thought process of the sermon.
They take a sip of it and hold it in their mouth.
They are so gifted; they can identify in their mind the very vineyard it came from and the year it was bottled.
Umm… that was “Worship 1977.”- I think that was “Holiness 1962.”
- That was “Doctrine AD 34.”
- “New Birth, Day of Pentecost!”
Oh yes. They know it when they hear it.
Then they spit it out.
They hear the Word, but they refuse to apply it to themselves. They feel they are superior in doctrine, and quite possible in intelligence, to almost every one in the church. Including the pastor.
They’ve heard it all before. They know it all forwards and backwards. But if you think they are going to swallow what they hear in church today, “you got another think a coming.”
They’ve been spitting it out for years! They will keep spitting it out too, until they die. To change and start swallowing would draw too much attention. They would lose their place in the church as a ‘deep’ saint of God. they would also lose face.
Actually they are not deep at all. Anyone can spit. That doesn’t require a gift or ability. They are not connoisseurs of the preached Word of God. They are only critics.
The reason they spit it out is because they are truth rejecters. (While I am on the subject, it seems like God mentioned spewing some folks out of His mouth too.)
The greatest danger you can do to yourself is to hear the Word and not apply it to your own life. Receive it and prosper. Receive it and live. Reject it and die.
They didn’t spit it out when Peter preached to them on the Day of Pentecost!
Acts 2:37 Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?
Acts 2:38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Acts 2:41 Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.
The only way to grow in God is to be a doer and not just a hearer.
James 1:23 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:
James 1:24 For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.
James 1:25 But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.
So… What are you going to do the next time you hear preaching?
Spit it out, or receive it?
There’s Members And Then There’s Attenders
There’s Members And Then There’s Attenders
Every church has some of both. Dedicated people carry the load of the church while too many others enjoy a free ride all their life. Some live for God with all their heart while others live on the fringes.
Solid church members are the ones faithful to prayer meetings. They are the worshipers, the participators, and the tithe payers,
- They say amen.
- They are always at church.
- They are faithful in their living and their giving.
- The standards of the church are not “grievous” to them.
- They love holiness.
- They love the pastor.
- They love God.
- The love the lost and they love one another.
- They are always willing to do what they are asked to do for the Lord.
Those are the Members.
Then there are the Attenders.
They may never become Members because for them the price is too great. Their reason is similar to “…Don’t buy the cow if you can get the milk for free.” They really do not wish to be pastored.
- The come to church when they feel like it.
- They won’t pay the price of faithfulness.
- Their life is all about them.
- They are only willing to participate at their own comfort level.
- Attenders never fully cooperate.
- They will never get on board.
- They never buy the whole package.
- Most of them struggle with authority.
- They like the worship and the people.
- But they struggle with the standards.
- Or maybe it’s baptism in Jesus Name that holds them back.
- Maybe it’s the necessity of the Holy Ghost speaking in tongues that bothers them.
- Some are Attenders because they are God robbers and will not give Him the tenth of their increase.
- Others just have a problem with any kind of authority and do not wish to be pastored.
- They just follow for the loaves and the fishes.
Jude explained these kind of people. He wrote pointedly about those that didn’t want a pastor. Over 2,000 years ago there were those that tried to pastor themselves.
Jude 11 Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.
Jude 12 These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;
Jude 13 Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.
“feeding themselves” literally means “pastoring themselves”….
Attenders aren’t in the same class as Members. Attenders may be “Added” in some fashion to the God’s Tree of Righteousness, but they are certainly not “Joined.”
Are You Joined To The Body Of Christ, Or Ar You Just Added To The Congregation?
Are You A Member Or An Attender?
Is God Ugly?
Is God Ugly?
I ask the question out of sincerity. Is He ugly? With respect, I wish to point out that the Lord did not use Madison Avenue type marketing ploys to present His message to mankind. He always hid the beauty. Everyone has to get past the ugly if they want to know more about God.
Ark
Imagine an Ark made of Gopher wood and smeared all over on the outside with dark pitch. There is absolutely not attractive about that mental picture in my mind. The only beauty I can see was on the inside. The beauty of the inside was that it provided safety from the storm.
Tabernacle in the Wilderness
Dyed Badger skins covered the Tabernacle in the Wilderness. This tent housed the dwelling place for the Shekinah survived over 400 years in the Wilderness. The attraction of the Tabernacle was not the beauty of its architecture or its appearance. The beauty was on the inside. The workmanship of all the holy things was beautiful and awe-inspiring. But the real beauty was God’s Mercy and Forgiveness.
The Gentiles never got to enjoy what was on the inside. They could only see the shape and outline from a distance.
Jesus Christ
Isa 53: 2 …he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.
1 Peter 2:7 Unto you therefore which believe he is precious:
From the writings of Isaiah, it appears that the prophecies concerning the Messiah do not describe Him as handsome. The Prophet said that it would not be his physical features that drew the crowds to Him.
In other words, the Messiah was not going to be favored with striking good looks. But to them that believed, (or to them that knew Him,) He was found to be precious! He is all of the definitions of precious and some more besides.
Is God Ugly To You?
Then Evidently You Don’t Know Him Very Well!
- If living for Him is not something very “precious” to you, you don’t know Him very well.
- If obedience to His Word is ugly to you, you don’t know Him very well.
- If loving your neighbor as yourself is ugly to you, you don’t know Him very well.
- If forgiving one another is ugly to you, you don’t know Him very well.
- If you criticize your pastor and your church, you don’t know Him very well.
- If holy living is ugly to you, you don’t know Him very well.
- If being faithful to church is ugly to you, you don’t know Him very well.
- If giving God your tithes is ugly to you, you don’t know Him very well.
- If supporting Missions is ugly to you, you don’t know Him very well.
- If living separate from the world is ugly to you, you don’t know Him very well.
- If worship is ugly to you, you don’t know Him very well.
- If demonstration in praise is ugly to you, you don’t know Him very well.
- If clapping your hands is ugly to you, you don’t know Him very well.
- If leaping for joy is ugly to you, you don’t know Him very well.
- If praising Him in a dance is ugly to you, you don’t know Him very well.
- If praising Him with a loud voice is ugly to you, you don’t know Him very well.
- If the music is always too loud for you, you don’t know Him very well.
- If prayer time is ugly to you, you don’t know Him very well.
- If fasting is ugly to you, you don’t know Him very well.
- If travailing for souls is ugly to you, you don’t know Him very well.
- If saying ‘Amen’ in church is ugly to you, you don’t know Him very well.
- If modesty is ugly to you, you don’t know Him very well.
- If witnessing to the lost is ugly to you, you don’t know Him very well.
- If a Godly commitment is ugly to you, you don’t know Him very well.
- If trusting Him is ugly to you, you don’t know Him very well.
- If preferring one another is ugly to you, you don’t know Him very well.
- If striving for unity in the church is ugly to you, you don’t know Him very well.
- If revival time is ugly to you, you don’t know Him very well.
- If humbling yourself before the Lord is ugly to you, you don’t know Him very well.
- If you love pleasure more than you love God, you don’t know Him very well.
- If you think your sacrifice is better than your obedience, you don’t know Him very well.
- If you have to be begged to come to church, you don’t know Him very well.
- If repentance is ugly to you, you don’t know Him very well.
- If baptism in Jesus Name is ugly to you, you don’t know Him very well.
- If receiving the Holy Ghost evidenced by speaking in other tongues is ugly to you, you don’t know Him very well.
- If you are not afraid to tell Him NO, you don’t know Him very well.
- If you only believe He is a God of love and will never punish your sin, you don’t know Him very well.
- If you don’t believe there’s a “Judgment Day” coming, you don’t know Him very well.
- If you don’t believe He is coming again, you don’t know Him very well.
There is one question that bottom-lines this for us all. The answer will tell you much about your walk with Him. Here’s the question:
“Is He Precious To YOU?”
I don’t mean, can you say you love Him. I mean… is he really precious to you?
My mother’s older sister Elnora Gleason Smith wrote the following song, whose chorus I wish to share. She recorded this when I was a very young boy. She also sang and played the steel guitar on the record.
“He’s Sweeter, More Precious”
He’s sweeter, more precious than silver or gold.
His great love for me has never been told.
What a comfort to go to Him daily in prayer,
He’s sweeter, more precious, than tongue can declare.
Thank you, Aunt Nori. I certainly agree!
I Am Expected To Make The Difference.
I’m Expected To Make The Difference
I have been called to make the difference.
I have been chosen to make the difference.
I have been challenged to make the difference.
I have been commissioned to make the difference.
Why then should I be idle?
Why then should I look the other way?
Why then should I settle for defeat?
Why then should I give up?
I am expected to be the light of the world.
I am expected to be the salt of the earth.
I am expected to make the difference.
I am expected to love everyone.
I am expected to love my enemies.
I am expected to pray for them.
I am expected to do good to them that despitefully use me.
I am expected to turn the other cheek.
I am expected to not return evil for evil.
I am expected to make the difference.
I am expected to bear my brother’s burden.
I am expected to go the second mile.
I am expected to restore my fallen brother.
I am expected to love everyone.
I am expected to forgive.
I am expected to honor my father and mother.
I am expected to make the difference.
I am expected to be a witness.
I am expected to travail for the lost.
I am expected to go forth weeping bearing precious seed.
I am expected to come back rejoicing bringing sheaves with me.
I am expected to go into all of the world, teaching the Gospel to every creature.
I am expected to make the difference.
I am expected to be holy like Him.
I am expected to live soberly and righteous in this present world.
I am expected to love Him with all my heart.
I am expected to love Him with all my soul.
I am expected to love Him with all my might.
I am expected to love Him with all my strength.
I am expected to make the difference.
I am expected to put Him first in my life.
I am expected to love Him more than anyone in the world.
I am expected to follow Him.
I am expected to make myself available.
I am expected to make myself ready.
I am expected to make the difference.
I am expected to take the lowest seat.
I am expected to humble myself.
I am expected to trust Him.
I am expected to be faithful.
I am expected to keep His commandments.
I am expected to pray for my leaders.
I am expected to be a peacemaker.
I am expected to make the difference.
The love of many has waxed cold. I am expected to make the difference.
Some have fallen away. I am expected to make the difference.
This sinful world needs Jesus. I am expected to make the difference.
By His help, I shall not fail!
Some Did, Some Didn’t
Some Did, Some Didn’t
Fall is a beautiful time in Indiana. The farmers have little roadside vegetable stands set up that stay busy with city slicker customers looking for fresh produce.
By this time of year, most crops have already been harvested. Well, except for maybe soybeans, pumpkins and the field corn.
The average crop of field corn is beautiful when it is harvested. Trucks can be seen hauling the yellow corn to the ethanol plants and to the local Co-op.
For the most part, all the ears of corn look very much alike. But what catches the eye, are the ears of corn that don’t look like the others. Some cobs are full with golden kernels; others are not. There are ears of corn of varied lengths and descriptions. In every truck load.
What these ears of field corn have in common, is that:
- They all were planted by the same farmer.
- They all were purchased at the same feed store.
- They all were planted in the same field.
- They all received the same amount of fertilizer.
- They all received the same amount of sunshine.
- They all received the same amount of rain.
- They all received the same amount of wind.
- They all received the same amount of weeding.
- They all received the same amount of irrigation.
- They were all planted the same day.
- They were all harvested the same day.
- They didn’t all turn out the same.
- Why?
Was it difference the farmer’s fault? Was the problem with the seed, or was it the soil? I’ll never know. The harvest shows the disparity of each ear.
There is another harvest that comes to mind. That one is a Harvest of Souls.
Apostolic churches are beautiful in spirit and worship. They are lovely in holiness and truth. Their love and fervor for the name of Jesus is without equal.
Yet, not every church member looks and acts the same. Here and there exceptions are found in every congregation.
- Some don’t pray like the rest.
- Some don’t worship like the rest
- Some don’t pay tithe like the rest.
- Some won’t dress like the rest.
- Some won’t live like the rest.
- Some won’t be faithful like the rest.
- Some won’t witness like the rest.
- Some don’t love holiness like the rest.
- Some won’t obey God’s Word like the rest.
- Why?
What made them different from all the others? How come others connected with God, the church and the pastor and they didn’t? I can’t answer that, and you may not be able to either.
- They all went to the same church.
- They all sang the same songs.
- They all prayed at the same time.
- They all had the same pastor.
- They all heard the same sermon.
- They all received the same encouragement.
- They all received the same correction.
- They all were given the same love.
- They all were given the same hope.
- They all attended the same revivals
- They all came forward to pray at the end of the service.
Yet some got on fire, and others did not. Some submitted to God, and others did not. Some got a good experience of the Holy Ghost, and others… who knows?
Some lived a life of carefulness. Others did not. Some looked godly. Others did not. Some dressed modestly. Others did not. Some knew God. Others… who knows?
Some women had uncut hair. Others did not. Some men were clean-shaven. Others were not. Some always said ‘Amen”. Others did not. Some had a fiery testimony. Others did not.
Some day, some will hear Him say, “Well done thou good and faithful servant.” Others may not.
You Can Die In The Bleachers, Or You Can Die On The Field.
You Can Die In The Bleachers, Or You Can Die On The Field.
The Drudge Report revealed earlier this year that a baseball fan died at a Rangers game. It was an unexpected shock, I’m sure. No one’s death is ever taken lightly, on the field or off. All of us are saddened at the news of one’s death.
The fear of dying is normal. Living with fear is not. There have been some that have died on the field. There have also been some that have died in the bleachers.
In sports, spectators may fill up an arena, but it’s those on the field that hold everyone’s attention.
Professional spectators are very vocal with their opinions and criticisms. They freely spout the names of players and coaches. They can rattle off statistics and scores faster than a ticker tape.
But they are not players. They are not even on the field. Chances are, they’ve never been on the field, nor do the have any plans of being there either. They just like to talk. There are millions of them that sit in the bleachers. Only a few others ever make it onto the field.
In the Gospel Arena, we too have a lot of spectators. The field is where the action is. We need more Holy Ghost filled folks out on the field.
- There are no age requirements.
- There are no height or weight restrictions.
- There are no gender or race limitations.
- There’s not even any IQ test.
- We all qualify to be a witness.
- We all qualify to be a worshipper.
- We all qualify to be the light of the world.
- We all qualify to be the salt of the earth.
- We all quality to labor in the harvest.
Jesus made an appeal to those that have spent their life sitting in the bleachers. It’s harvest time.
Luke 10:2 Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest.
How many of us pray this prayer? How often? It’s kind of hard to pray this prayer without doing something about it.
As a teen, I remember revival meetings, youth camps, missionary services that challenged us all to respond to the “call.”
We don’t hear many messages like that anymore challenging us to give our life to His service. I don’t know what happened. I don’t know why they stopped making appeals.
We know that most of us will never be Missionaries in the literal sense. Most all of us will never be Pastors either. But we all can so something for the Kingdom. Don’t be afraid to get involved in winning the lost.
Push your pride aside. Lay your excuses down. Now is the time to win that soul. Now is the time to let your light shine. Now is the time to teach that Home Bible Study. Now is the time to knock on that neighbor’s door.
The fear of dying is normal. Living with fear is not. There have been some that have died on the field. There have also been some that have died in the bleachers.
In the Old Testament, a curse was placed on those that wanted to watch while the others fought. They were too busy or too fearful to get involved. They had an excuse. They were cursed because of that.
Judges 5:23 Curse ye Meroz, said the angel of the LORD, curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof; because they came not to the help of the LORD, to the help of the LORD against the mighty.
They were too busy taking care of their own needs. The things of the Lord came place second to them.
In the same chapter, two tribes of Israel were honored, because they were willing to lay their very lives on the line. God never forgot that.
Judges 5:18 Zebulun and Naphtali were a people that jeoparded their lives unto the death in the high places of the field.
The tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali later made up the group of people called the Galileans. No one even has to be a Bible scholar to remember that it was upon the Galileans that the Holy Ghost was first poured out in the book of Acts.
Acts 2:7 And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans?
God rewards those that are willing put their life on the line for Him. He rewards them first. The Galileans received the Holy Ghost before anyone else.
Some may wonder why there is not much in the way of blessings in their life. Maybe, just maybe, it’s because they are still sitting in the bleachers.
The fear of dying is normal. Living with fear is not. There have been some that have died on the field. There have also been some that have died in the bleachers.
- Come on now.
- How long have you been sitting in the bleachers?
- Isn’t it time we all got out of the bleachers and got out on the field?
Yes, in due time we all will die. But I would rather die on the field trying to do something for God, than die in the bleachers… watching.
Where Do You Plan To Die?
Apostolic Expository Series
Christy Ballestero (My Beautiful DIL)
http://marciaballestero.com/
Pastor Anthony & Kim Ballestero, New Destiny Worship Center, Clearwater, FL (My Son)
Pastor Bryan & Christy Ballestero, Temple Of Pentecost, Raleigh, NC (My Son)
James Groce Blog – "Toward The Mark"
Kenneth Bow Blog
Kingdom Speak Podcast
Philip Harrelson – "The Barnabas Blog"
Verbal Bean Ministries
Holy Ghost Radio
The Ballestero Blog 