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Pardon Me!

Pardon Me

Naaman stood before the Prophet Elisha a healed man. His dignity had been restored. He had a new lease on life. His death sentence had been lifted. He could now proceed in life with unlimited possibilities.

He was not an Israelite. His family had always been idolaters and heathens. Yet this man in front of him had come up with the magic formula for his healing. His leprosy was gone. Not only was the disease gone, but his skin now looked like baby skin. That was an additional miracle. This Prophet was truly a man of God.

Naaman felt a duty to be respectful of the God of Israel. He didn’t know what the response was going to be.

Naaman’s King, King Benhadad was a little feeble and getting up in years. The King had been very kind to him. He also depended on Naaman very much. Not only was Naaman the King’s friend, he went with the King to worship in the House of Rimmon, because the king had a hard time kneeling and getting back up.

2Kings 5:18 In this thing the LORD pardon thy servant, that when my master goeth into the house of Rimmon to worship there, and he leaneth on my hand, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon: when I bow down myself in the house of Rimmon, the LORD pardon thy servant in this thing.

“I know that this is something I’m not supposed to do, but would it be OK ?”
“Could you make an exception for me?”
“I have some mitigating circumstances.”
“I’m grateful for my miracle, but I’m under a lot of pressure from my boss.”
“I believe what I have experienced was real, but I still want to go to my old church.”
“I’m going to need an indulgence.”

Conviction began to grip the heart of Naaman. He was talking to Jehovah’s Prophet. Naaman wanted to do right, but just had a hard time letting go of his old life style.

He couldn’t easily disconnect. The pressure to convert to Judaism was great. The pressure to not displease his King was great. He was torn. What do I do? How can I get through this? In his mind the only ‘out’ was to ask permission and that’s what he did. It looked like he had half-hearted faith.

Although this first happened thousands of years ago, it’s still happening in many churches around the world today.

Old and young alike that have been filled with the Holy Ghost and delivered from sin, have been known to ask for exceptions.

“Pastor, is it OK if I do this?
Pastor is it OK if I go over there?
I know what you preached, but let me explain my situation.

As a pastor, it often seemed that most people who came to my office and asked, “Is it OK if I do this or that,” were somehow asking how much they could get away with and still be saved.

That may have been an over-reach on my part, but the fact remains there will always be a struggle in the heart of flesh. A choice must be made in serving either God or Mammon. We can’t do both.

Fall in love with Jesus, and let go of the world. The most miserable people in church are those that are half in and half out.

Written by Martyn Ballestero

January 13, 2011 at 11:32 am

Posted in Compromise, Uncategorized

Tagged with Compromise, Exceptions, Naaman

The Mile High Conference Revival 2010

with one comment

I was blessed to attend two wonderful days of The Mile High Conference Revival in Denver Colorado. The preaching was at a depth in God that was phenomenal. I have posted some of the sermons here on my blog, complete with commentary taken from the church website. Enjoy!

For additional messages from Calvary Apostolic Church, go to http://www.cacdenver.org

Steve Pixler – Transformation Of The Will

Bro. Pixler gives us a deeper understanding of Jesus’ meaning when praying “Not my will, but Thine be done”

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Tony Spell- Preserving the Truth

Tony Spell – As It Was, So Shall It Be

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Ron Libby – Grasping Grace

Ron Libby – Grasping Grace II

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Nathaniel Urshan – The Bartimaeus Syndrome

You must get God for yourself. You can’t live off your Father’s blessing. You must get it for yourself. You may be defined in the natural by your Father, past, history etc… but when you get God, you become his Son and you are then defined by Him. Let him become Your God, Your provider, Your help.

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Terry Black -What Do You Do After The Ram Shows Up?

Isaac found himself bound on the altar due to his father’s desire to please God. Bro. Black examines his reaction to this unsettling turn of events in his life.

Terry Black – If You Have Your Faith, You Have Your Future

Failure does not spell the end for children of God — Keep your faith!

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Written by Martyn Ballestero

July 30, 2010 at 9:20 am

Posted in Uncategorized

I Am An Idea

with one comment

A very old article by Jack Hyles, a renowned Baptist pastor and college president from Hammond, IN. I found this nearly 20 years ago. Enjoy.

I Am an Idea

by Dr. Jack Hyles

I am an idea. I came to visit your mind. You held me for a moment and planned to capture me. You told me to wait for awhile while you did something else. I tired of waiting and took my flight. It is too bad, for I perhaps could have even changed your life or maybe I could have even changed the world or your family or your church. Maybe I was important or maybe I was unimportant, but you will never know, for you are too busy to lodge me.

I do not ask for a large place to reside– a three-by-five card is ample space for me, but I refuse to wait in the vestibule of your mind while you care for lesser things.

I am an idea. I came once to Edison, and I found lodging for me, and the Wright brothers housed me; so did Jonas Salk. I do not need to dwell on a scroll; I am not usually housed on stationery. I need no library for my walls or publication for my dwelling place. I simply ask for a three-by-five card or even a scratch paper.

I did not flee to another, for I was meant for you. God sent me, designed to be used by you, to help others, but you never stopped long enough to let me in. I knocked at the door of meditation, but it was locked. I sought entrance at the door of prayer, but it never opened. Just the slightest opening and I would have entered, but you never stopped to think, so I could not enter your mind.

I am an idea. Oh, after I left, you sought me diligently, but I was gone forever, for you placed me in your memory instead of on a three-by-five card. I cost you nothing; in fact, I will pay you rent if you will lodge me, and I will even move in with others like me on the same card, and you need not pay attention to me until you are ready, but I WILL NOT live in your memory. I will flee unless you lodge me on any kind of paper or on a three-by-five card.

If I leave, I will not come again to you or to another, and the world will never know me or the contribution I could have made. I did not ask for a home with gilded edges or leather binding or fancy parchment or gold lettering. I did not ask to be typed or printed or engraved– just to be scribbled was all that was necessary.

I do not ask that my landlord be a typist or typesetter or a commercial artist– just a doodler would have sufficed.

I sought not to be filed or be placed in an attache or a briefcase; I sought only to live and be scribbled on a three-by-five card and placed in your pocket.

Dwelling on such a card I was able to make Russell Andersons out of common men, John Beilers from normal people, Jack DeCosters from the bourgeois and Wendell Evanses from average folk.

I am an idea. My neglectors dwell in prisons, stand in soup lines and live off welfare, and many of them work for those who housed me on a three-by-five card. I have made many wealthy and many famous, and those who housed me are called leaders while many neglectors call my landlords “lucky” and those who neglect me eat from the taxes of those who house me.

I am an idea. I dwell in the pockets of architects and surgeons and businessmen and authors and poets and successful pastors. In fact, I am near the heart of all successful people.

I am an idea. I am the difference between success and failure, an A and a B, a B and a C, a C and a D, and a D and an F. I am the difference between quitting and graduating, standing and falling, passing and failing.

I am an idea. Eventually I dwell in the pockets of better shirts. I am how they are afforded, though I do not ask for silk or satin or linen. I sought not Van Heusen or Arrow or Christian Dior. Any old card in any old pocket in any old shirt would have done.

I am an idea. I did not ask for transportation by a quill or typewriter or computer or even a pen– an old pencil would have sufficed. I want only a place to dwell on a simple three-by-five card.

You know many of my keepers: Abraham Lincoln, Benjamin Franklin, Louis Pasteur, John Rice, Lee Roberson, Ronald Reagan, Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, William Shakespeare, Robert Browning, Isaac Watts, George Washington, Bob Jones, and many more. My neglectors are named… I seem to have forgotten… so have you.

I am an idea. You need not be talented to keep me. I seem unimportant to talented people, and those who trust their good memories have forgotten me forever. I am born miraculously and quickly and die very soon unless placed immediately in the incubator of a three-by-five card. When I am so kept, I recommend others to you and they run to you for lodging. I never do it alone; I share my card with many like me and share my pocket with many other cards, and those who house me never seem to have pocket space for rent.

I am an idea. I pass by those who sleep in chapel and those who lie on activity reports and quitters and rule-breakers and gossips and critics and gluttons and sluggards and the unscheduled and the undisciplined.

In fact, this article is one like me. It was scribbled on a three-by-five card and placed in an Arrow shirt pocket worn by one who is not brilliant but who houses many like me. While I was in his pocket, I dwelt where this College once dwelt, where this building once lived, where this campus was once housed. I saw signs that said, “Books once lived here,” like BLUE DENIM AND LACE, HOW TO REAR CHILDREN, MEET THE HOLY SPIRIT and PLEASE PARDON MY POETRY.

I am an idea. Probably you did not hear me knock; I knock so softly that you did not hear me. I DO knock all day just in case you come to the door of meditation or to the window of thought and study. I did not force my way in, for those who are too busy to greet me are too busy to use me.

It would not have taken long; just let me be on a three-by-five card and forget me. I will stay there until you call, but I WILL NOT stay in your memory.

I am an idea. I wanted you; I needed you. I will soon die for lack of my natural habitat, and the world will never know me because of you, and to think that I did not ask to dwell ‘neath a Hart, Shaffner, Marx, but just on a three-by-five card near your heart.

I am an idea. Now I am dying. I will soon be carried to a grave of uselessness by pallbearers of neglect. My grave will never be visited, for none knew me. I sigh for those who could have been known by millions if you could have taken thirty seconds and used an old pen and put me on any old three-by-five card. Millions could have met me and I could have had eternal life, but I was kept from the world… by you.

I am an idea. I did not ask for your I.Q. or for a financial report; I did not see what you look like, for beauty was not required. I did not notice your size or ability nor did I check your intelligence– I just wanted you. I did not even ask to live in your mind or in your heart or in your soul or even in your memory– just on a three-by-five card in your pocket.

I am an idea. I could have changed your life; I could have made you successful; I could have made you a blessing or perhaps even renowned or important or prosperous. But I came to you one day– you played, you partied, you slept, you even met me, but I was not important enough for immediate attention. You casually asked me to wait for a few minutes, but when you came for me, I was gone– gone forever– and to think I would have stayed if you had only taken a minute to house me on a three-by-five card.

I WAS an idea. I died in infancy. I now rest with many others of your children. My death was so needless. I wanted to live. We could have been so happy together. Now soon you will also die and few will remember you either, for the world will remember BOTH or NEITHER of us.

And to think, we both could have lived and been remembered if you had only housed me in any old pocket of any old shirt on any old paper.

Oh, by the way, have you noticed the epitaph on my tombstone? It reads, “He died for the lack of a three-by-five card.”

— Jack Hyles

Written by Martyn Ballestero

May 26, 2010 at 9:17 am

Posted in Uncategorized

There’s A New Blog In Town

How To Become A Friend Of God

with 4 comments

How To Become A Friend Of God

We have a tendency to judge everything from our personal vantage point and life experiences. It possibly colors our perception even of Biblical characters.

If we were to judge some Old Testament heroes by the current accepted behavior of our society, their humanity would scream with imperfection.

Abraham is a perfect example. He is called the Father of the Faithful. His name is hollowed.

Yet by today’s standards he was guilty of:

Lying about Sara his wife. He claimed she was his sister.
Creating havoc in his home and the promise of God by fathering a child with Hagar.
Rejecting and banishing Hagar – (Spousal abandonment?)
Abandoning Ishamel his son.
Neglecting his own child.

I’m sure other things could be found to make more dark marks on his name.

Do you know when his relationship with God changed?

James 2:21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?
James 2:22 Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?
James 2:23 And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.

In spite of all his imperfections, Abraham was called a friend of God AFTER he built an altar.

You want to be called a friend of God?

I don’t care about how your life story reads, I promise, you can become a friend of God too. It starts with one easy step.

Build an altar!

Written by Martyn Ballestero

May 17, 2010 at 11:42 pm

Posted in Backsliders, Life, Recovery, Uncategorized

Whatever Happened to Modesty?

with 5 comments

Whatever Happened to Modesty?

On A Pentecostal Minister’s Forum, I found a thread about Modesty from an unexpected source. I went to the link, read the article and wanted to share a couple of it’s comments here.

It’s by Michael Hyatt of Thomas Nelson Publishers. His company is publishing Brittany Spears mother’s book.

He is the Chief Executive Officer of Thomas Nelson Publishers, the largest Christian publishing company in the world and the seventh largest trade book publishing company in the U.S.

After watching a MTV awards show he asks:

“Where are these girls fathers? Has anyone ever taught them the concept of modesty?”

He then give us his thoughts about modesty.

Here they are: “Four Guidelines for Modesty”:

If you have trouble getting into it or out of it, it is probably not modest.
If you have to be careful when you sit down or bend over, it is probably not modest.
If people look at any part of your body before looking at your face, it is probably not modest.
If you can see your most private body parts or an outline of those parts under the fabric, it is probably not modest.

If you think these guidelines are helpful, you might want to pass them along to the young women you know. Evidently, not many are getting the message elsewhere.

http://michaelhyatt.com/2008/09/whatever-happened-to-modesty.html

Written by Martyn Ballestero

May 15, 2010 at 12:59 am

Posted in Christian Living, Holiness, Uncategorized

Call Yer Mom!

with 8 comments

Call Yer Mom!

My cousin Pastor Clayton Brown and I sat in the quaint little Italian restaurant across from Bro. Paul Price in Napa, California. It was an honor for us to have supper with such a respected Pentecostal leader. He had been a dear friend of my family and my wife’s family over the years.

“I hear that you call your mother every day. Is that true?”

Those were his first words that evening as we sat down to eat. I was taken by surprise.

“I do my best to call her every day. Sometimes we have a problem connecting because I’m in a bad area or something.”

“Yes but you do try?” He pushed the subject. But now I noticed his eyes were beginning to brim with tears.

“Absolutely!”

The tears still made me wonder why this subject brought emotion so close to the surface for him.

“I’m proud of you for that. I wished more sons would call their widowed mothers.

“I just got off the phone talking to a man about that. I had to bawl him out for neglecting to call his widowed mother. She had no one to check on her. She was desperate to hear his voice. He said he was busy. I can’t tell you how much that upset me.

“Do you know that the Bible has much to say about the treatment of widows? There are curses on those that mistreat and neglect them. God hates them that do.”

The air was not completely out of Bro. Price’s sail yet on the subject, but we were interrupted by the waiter. Although we never continued the subject, I never forgot it.

I didn’t want to know who the person was, but I was glad it wasn’t me and that I had tried to call my Mom as often as I could. I also didn’t know who’d told on me, but I was glad I got caught doing something good for once.

Although my own Mom does very good for 88 years, there are many moments when I wish her short term memory was better. I may have to remind her a time or two within a single phone call where I’m preaching a revival or if my wife is with me or at our house.

It doesn’t matter whether she can remember tomorrow that I called her today or not. I remember. Right now that’s what matters to me.

I’ve pray my children keep close tabs on my beloved wife when I’m gone.

Oh, and here’s a bit of unasked for advice for the rest of you… ‘Call yer Mom!’

Written by Martyn Ballestero

May 14, 2010 at 6:57 am

Posted in Family, Mother, Uncategorized

“It’s OK To Struggle, Let Us Struggle…”

with 10 comments

“It’s OK To Struggle, Let Us Struggle…”

I sat the phone down slowly. My eyes were still brimming with tears. What I had just heard was heart wrenching and heart warming at the same time.

I had been talking on the phone to my oldest son Anthony and his beautiful new bride Kim. She was the former Kimberly Elrod of Piqua, OH. Her father Richard Elrod pastored there. Anthony and Kim had just gotten off their honeymoon just a few days prior.

My son had been asked to be the Youth Pastor in Jackson, MS at Bro. Tommy Craft’s church. The church had secured housing for them. It was a nice apartment that was furnished with a stove and a washer and dryer.

I knew that their small U-Haul truck did not contain much more than a bed, and a dinning room set she had purchased at a yard sale. Not much else besides personal articles and clothing. They were just starting out in life. Both had graduated from JCM only a few weeks earlier.

It dawned on me that there was no mention about a refrigerator in the house, I asked them about it on the phone. When they told me they didn’t have one, I felt desperate for them.

I had saved up about $350.00, so I volunteered to help out. I said to them, “Look, I have some money put back, and I will send you $350.00 to buy one. You still have the U-Haul, and maybe you can find a used one in the Classifieds and use the truck to haul it.”

That’s when the sweet feminine voice of my new daughter in law piped up. She said, “No dad, don’t do that. We’re OK. Let us struggle. It’s OK to struggle!”

Emotion overwhelmed me. I cried silently. I had already fallen in love with her beauty and her talents. But I was unprepared for how beautiful her heart was. I immediately fell hopelessly in love with her sweet spirit and would then have freely given her half of my kingdom… if I’d had one.

“Well, you call me if you need me and I’ll be glad to do what I can to help!” I added.

(I couldn’t believe that there was still people like this in the world.) She was serious. She didn’t want me to intervene. They would make it, she said. Somehow they did.

The struggles in life of those you love is not easy to watch. You would love to bail everyone out of whatever mess they are in. Even when you know you can’t, you still want to.

The problem however is not always fixed if you do. When you look at nature it’s a clearer, although harsher picture.

Remember your journey to the farm when you were a kid? One of the highlights was watching baby chicks hatch. The 6 hour procedure is excruciating to observe. You see their little head hanging out. The look wet, helpless and tired. The heat lamp is keeping them warm. The shell is cracked. They’re exhausted and have to stop and rest for long periods which makes you want to help them.

If you try to help the baby chick, at best it may live 2 days. More than likely it will die sooner. I hate to say how I know that. The success of the chick’s survival is not the help, but the struggle.

Just because we are struggling in life, doesn’t mean God hates us, that we are out of His will or that our support system of loved ones has let us down.

Struggle is necessary to survival. (You’re still here aren’t you? Then don’t give up or give in.) It’s OK to struggle. The Father knows where you’re at. He’s watching. You’re going to make it!

Written by Martyn Ballestero

May 12, 2010 at 1:35 am

Posted in Christian Living, Comfort, Personal Growth, Uncategorized

I Am The Church

with 4 comments

I Am The Church

Matthew 16:16-18

I am a Divine experience, built upon a Divine revelation
I am built upon the Rock. That Rock is Jesus.
I was born in obscurity, in an upper room.
I have lived in palaces and poverty
I am no stranger to the poor. I was raised on the wrong side of the tracks.

Some have called me:

Saul of Tarsus
Simon Peter
Cornelius
Philip
Stephen
Timothy
Lois
Eunice
Lydia

Of late, you have called me:

Andrew Urshan
G.T. Haywood
Robert Tobin
Verbal Bean
Carl Ballestero
Robert C. Cavaness
Paul Jordan
William R. Starr
Jimmy Davis
Bill Dross
Morris E. Golder

I am the church

I was chosen from a life called:

Foolish
Weak
Base
Despised
Nothing

That I should not glory in His presence!

I am College Students and High School Drop outs,
Factory workers and Housewives,
Store owners and clock punchers,
I am all ages and all sizes,
I am teens with braces and Grandma’s with canes
I am Sunday School kids whose parents are still asleep.
I’ve lived on welfare, stood in soup lines,
I used to be addicted to drugs, push dope, and belong to a gang.
I was a streetwalker, alcoholic, liar and thief.
But now I am washed, Now I am sanctified, Now I am justified, by the blood of Jesus.

I am the church

I have lived in the “guttermost”, but have been raised to the “uttermost.”
I have been lifted from the deep miry clay. My feet set upon a solid rock, He has established by goings.
Angels attend me daily. I am guided by Divine Direction.
Heaven protects my every move.
I am an army, I have never lost a battle. I am predestined to win.
I am victorious.

I have been given authority in His Name, over:

Every evil spirit
Every disease known to man
I have the power of the Name of Jesus at my command.
I speak unto mountains and they are cast aside, In His name
I walk by faith and live in the Spirit.

I am the church

Throughout history, I have been:

Crucified
Stoned
Beaten
Mistreated
Banished
Persecuted and Ostracized, I still prevail.
I’ve been Lied on,
Talked about
Laughed at
Mocked
Scorned,

But Death still can’t stop me.

I shall not be defeated.

By Divine Help,

There’s no mountain I haven’t climbed,
No river I haven’t crossed
No valley too deep.
There’s no problem too big!
I have been made to survive and flourish.

I am the church

I have been hindered, but never stopped.
Knocked down, but never defeated.
Cast down, but never destroyed.
Dictators can’t stop me
Kings can’t stop me
Presidents can’t
Generals with cruel armies can’t
Even Communism can’t.
The Iron curtain, Bamboo Curtain, The Berlin wall couldn’t stop me.

Even the gates of hell shall not prevail against me.

God is with me
He is on my side.

Why do I not live in fear? I have been given precious promises:

Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day;

Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.

A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.

There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.

For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.

Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all.

The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.

The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

I am predestinated.
I am the church.

I have lived in prisons, in castles, in cities and in desert places,
I have lived in villages and barrios, in every continent and every nation under heaven.
I am more colors than the rainbow.
I speak the languages of many tongues.
Tongues of men and of angels.
I entertain no prejudices
I am one body

I am the church

I am commissioned to the Great Commission
I live for the Word.
I shout Amen,
I run the aisles
I dance in the spirit
I love praise and worship
I speak with tongues and prophesy.
I baptize in Jesus Name
I clap my hands and sing.
I raise my hands in prayer and worship.
I leap for joy.
I exist to given Him praise.

Psa. 150:1 Praise ye the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power.

2 Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness.

3 Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp.

4 Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs.

5 Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals.

6 Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD.

I will bless the LORD at all times

His praise shall continually be in my mouth.

O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together.

I am the church

Holiness is my trademark
Worship is my hallmark.
Prayer is my secret.

I am a tired missionary
An exhausted parent of small children,
I am a tear-stained altar worker,
A tired visitation team
A Sunday School teacher with children that won’t be quiet
A Home Bible Study teacher, burning the midnight oil
I am a weary all-night prayer meeting
I am an evangelist with a hoarse throat.
I am an exhausted musician in a lengthy altar service,
I am a King’s son wearing clothes from Goodwill,
I know what it’s like to shout my hair down,
I know what it’s like to get Holy laughter,
I know what it’s like to shout during the preaching,
I know what it’s like to travail in the spirit,
I know what it’s like to make intercession.
I know what the Pentecostal croup is
I know what it’s like to see someone go home drunk in the Holy Ghost,
I know what it’s like to be lost in the Spirit,
I know where the prayer room is,

I am the church

I’ve seen lives changed
Families restored
Marriages put back together
Gays and Lesbians delivered
Bodies healed
Minds restored
Drug Addicts delivered
Smokers set free
Alcoholics dried out
Hard hearts softened
Bitterness erased
Anger dissipate
Mistakes forgiven and wrongs righted.
Unity restored
All by the Han of God
Some, in moment’s time
I am the sole possessor of Truth
I possess the secret of eternal life and of peace with God

I am the church

I am preaching that changes that touches the heart
I am an experience that changes the lives
I am testimonies that ring that Jerusalem ring
I am singing, that stirs the soul,
I am prayers that reach heaven’s throne,

I am the church

I am faces without make-up
I am long dresses and uncut hair.
I am modesty on a pedestal,
I am virtue and purity on parade with heads held high.
I am holiness without an apology
I am dedicated to separation from the world.
I refused to be influenced by immoral thinking
I shun immodest apparel
I hate every false way
I deplore the works of the flesh
Carnal thinking is not for me
I keep myself unspotted from the world.
I proudly represent the King of Glory
He is Holy, therefore, I must be holy
My adornment is spiritual and precious, rather than worldly and cheap.
My men look like real men
My women are my glory
I am not a slave to fashion, but rather a servant of Jesus Christ.
I am clothed rather in garments of Salvation.
Immodesty does not become me,
Impurity has no place in my world,
I live a separated life.
I don’t look like Satan’s children, talk like them, neither do I act like them.
I do not feel comfortable in their environment.
I hate all the works of the flesh
I am not comfortable in Satan’s realm
The world is not my home
I walk ONLY on the OLD paths.

I am the church

My worship, my music and singing have been copied, mimicked, and duplicated.

But like the magicians, who cast down their rods before Moses, they still didn’t have the message. Moses had the only message of deliverance.

I alone have the message of deliverance for a lost and dying world.
I alone have the keys to eternal life.
I alone have the message that sets men free
I alone have the truth
I alone have the revelation of who Jesus is
I alone am the bride of Christ
I alone known the truth of being born again of water and spirit
I alone baptize in the only name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved
I alone have a world to reach

I am described as:

Glorious
Not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing.
Holy and without blemish.
As terrible as an army with banners
The salt of the world
The light of the world
A Great House
The general assembly
Mount Zion
The city of the Living God
The church of the first born
An heir of righteousness
A chosen generation
A royal priesthood
The Family of God
The Habitation of God
The Temple of God
The Bride of Christ

I AM NOT:

A social center
A board run entity or a clever tax shelter
I am not Political or politically correct
Or Socially acceptable
This Secular world was not created with me in mind.
I don’t fit in to their societies or programs, their sports or their entertainment.

I AM A REDEMPTION CENTER

A Hospital for the hurting
An oasis for the weary
A home for every one.
Give me your weary, your homeless, your outcast, your oppressed, your needy and your distressed.

I am the church

I am called to show forth the praises of Him who hath called my out of darkness in to this glorious light
I am the sole possessor of the name of Jesus in redemption.
I alone have taken His name.
I am His bride. I love His Name.

Revival is my heartbeat,

Calvary is my song,

The blood of Jesus is my hope,

The name of Jesus is my love,

Deliverance is my message,

The coming of Jesus is my prayer

I live only to:

Worship Him
Witness to others
Love one another
Praise His Holy Name
Pray unto Him
Help my brother
Obey His Word and His will

I am sanctified

Blood washed
Blood bought
Spirit filled
Water baptized in Jesus name
Tongue talking
Endued with power from on high
My name is written in the Lambs book of life
I am the reason for Bethlehem,
I am the reason for Calvary
I am Pentecost in action

I grow with tears
I become stronger when I decrease
I am love with a sword in its hand
I am a soldier with compassion
A rich man with no money,
Royalty with no recognition
I am an heir with no earthly home.
I am a burden in shoe leather
I am joyful when there is repentance
I celebrate the death and Home-going of my own,
Knowing that to absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.
But I grieve for all others.
I have prayed teeming thousands out of sick beds,
Seen countless others raised up from their death beds,
Watched blinded eyes open, and seen the lame walk.
Yet I still reach out to help others who have never heard of Jesus.
While hope and time remain, I am dedicated to helping others find Christ.
I live in the Supernatural, I walk in the Spirit, and I enjoy the benefits of eternity right here on earth.

I am the church

I love the unlovable,
I reach out to the rejected and outcasts of society while giving hope to the discouraged and depressed.
I am a refuge in troublesome times.
I am a comfort from despair, and a shelter in life’s storms.
I give hope to the hopeless and help o the helpless.
I minister to the needs of both the body and soul
I am blessed most, when I am being a blessing.
I bear my brother’s burdens
I am an encourager to all
I am an edifier and a giver of strength
I point all men to Calvary
I lead the hungry to Heaven’s banqueting table
I take no glory for myself

I am recognized by the fruit that I manifest.

Love,
Joy,
Peace,
Longsuffering,
Gentleness,
Goodness,
Faith,
Meekness,
Temperance: against such there is no law.

I am the church

I am betrothed to the King of Kings,
To The Lord God Almighty
The Alpha and Omega
The Beginning and The End
The First and The Last
The Prince of Peace
The Rose of Sharon
The Chief Cornerstone
The Captain of Salvation
The Desire of All nations
The Great High Priest
The Good Shepherd
Emmanuel
The Lamb of God
The Lord of Glory
The Most High God

He who is called:

Wonderful,
Counselor,
The mighty God,
The everlasting Father,
The Prince of Peace, This is my beloved.
He is altogether lovely.
I get excited about the Name of Jesus.
His Name is above every other.
I am the apple of His eye.
I am my beloved’s and He is mine.
I love the sound of His voice. His words to me are life and strength.
I delight in them. I am excited when He speaks to me.
I long for His touch.
I live to be in His presence.
I have no other joy.
For all that thrills my soul is Jesus, He is more than life to me, and the fairest of 10,000 in His blessed face I see.

My days are limited, my time is short.

I am redeeming the time.
I am going to be caught away very soon.
The Lord Jesus is coming to take me to a place He has prepared for me.

I must work while I still have the time.

My light is lit
There is oil in my lamp
It is trimmed and burning
I am watching and praying
I am looking for His soon return
I am on fire with Pentecostal fire
The vision is great
The harvest is great
My garments are without spot or wrinkle
I am ready for the 1st resurrection

I am the church

My job is never done, nor my task finished till all have come to the knowledge of the truth.
My focus must not be upon myself, but upon others.
I cannot rest while one lost sheep is astray.
I am called to rescue the perishing
I am charged the responsibility of lost souls

Heaven is watching

Hell is watching

The world is watching