Blessed With Good Men

Here's a thought. Back in the day, pastor Mitchell did not build or enlarge a building to attract people. He saw that the church had outgrown it's current space and needed room to accommodate the growth. He used fiscal restraint to make room for what God had done. God did a lot in those modest beginnings.

Pastor Mitchell had great wisdom in using the tents for conference. They were relatively cheap to buy and cheap to own. And once conference was over they got put away. God did a lot in those big tents.

We do not own property for our boot camp. We rent the campground. We only need it once a year. This is a perfect arrangement. God does a lot at our boot camp.

We are blessed to have the pastors we have to guide our churches into the future.

When The Answer Is No

There came a time in king David's life when he had a dream of building a temple to God. It was a noble idea and it would have brought David great acclaim and status. But, God had other plans and through David's advisor Nathan God told king David no.

What do you do when you are told no. Do you get angry and pitch a fit? Do you get sullen and pout? Or do you do what David did which was to shift gears and to keep moving forward?

Telling someone no is a great test of friendship or discipleship. Telling a disciple no can reveal the kind of person he really is, not who he acts like.

Some people are so full of themselves. Everything is about them; what they feel, what they think, their opinions, their agenda. The Bible calls this pride. Pride is something that everyone around you knows you have but you do not see it in yourself. Pride tries to act super spiritual. Pride always plays the God card even when it is inappropriate. Pride thinks that everyone cares about them. Pride tells lies to make themselves look good. Pride wears out it's welcome and begins to look around for new people to engage with or for a new place to join. Pride will leave a church over imagined infractions and does not realize that a change of place does not change you. Pride always comes right before a fall.

Pride thinks that not only are they smarter than those around them, they think that they are smarter than God.

"These six things the Lord hates, yes, seven are an abomination to Him. A proud look, a lying tongue." Prov. 6 16-17

Pride can not be told no. It will fight back or pout. It will do anything but repent.

Some Good Bible Studies

Long before the apostate Catholic church came up with the seven deadly sins God had already given us lists of sins to avoid. Why lists? Could it be that this is how we chart our progress. Instead of guessing, we can look at the appropriate list and see where we stand. This does not require us to walk by faith and not by sight. It only requires us to know where to look up a list and check off our progress.

What are the seven deadly sins?  Pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, and sloth. This particular list is not recorded per se in the Bible. All of these vices are explained further in other places in scripture. This is a good Bible study, to find our where they were already used and to explain what they mean.

Long before a pope codified seven deadly sins God had given us the ten commandments.  You can look them up. They are not just words listed, but thoughts expressed. This also makes for a good Bible study. How do the ten commandments apply to modern life today.

In the new testament we find in Galatians chapter five the list of the 17 works of the flesh. Books have been written about this. This makes not only a good Bible study, but a good adult Sunday School series. 

I you like lists, Proverbs chapter six has a list of the six, no seven things that God hates. This is good to know if your aim in life is to not make God mad at you. A good Bible study.

How does the Bible say we are to please God? 

"I say then, walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh." Gal. 5:16

"And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with it's passions and desires." Gal. 5:24

And finally:

"Study to show yourself approved to God, a workman who doesn't need to be ashamed." 2Tim. 2:15

The Poor Wise Man Speaks

"There was a little city with a few men in it; and a great king came against it, and built great bulwarks around it. Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city. Yet no one remembered that same poor man. Then I said: wisdom is better than strength. Nevertheless the poor man's wisdom is despised. And his words are not heard." Eccl.9:14-16

If you are so smart, why aren't you rich? Ever heard this cliche before? It's like wisdom gained by age and experience ought to have some kind of wealth attached to it. Let me tell you something, it doesn't.

I often feel like the poor wise man. I feel like my wisdom is despised and my words are not heard.  I hear from God and I say what I've heard, and I am ignored and maybe criticized in private and possibly despised in some men's hearts. In our church there are conservatives and liberals, hawks and doves, Trump supporters and Trump haters. I am none of the above. I do not listen to talk radio and I do not watch national news. I have a firm understanding of the Bible, unlike some of my friends. 

We have some in our Fellowship who want to overthrow nations so that they become open to our Gospel. We support bombing the door open. You cannot bomb them today and then tell them that Jesus loves them tomorrow. 

PS: Ostriches do not hide their heads in the sand. Neither do I. So I will continue to listen for truth and speak the truth in love and be content to pray for our president and our mayor and our city and our nation. My prayer is for peace and prosperity for the people and wisdom for the leaders. Just like the prophet told us to do.

So, let God be true and every man a liar.

Kingdom Builders or Earth Fillers?

 "Cast out the scorner, and contention shall go out; yes, strife and reproach shall cease." Prov. 22:10

It is not a surprise that those on the political left are anti America and anti God and anti church. What is a surprise is that those on the conservative right politically are almost identical to their leftist counterparts. What also is a surprise to me is how many pastors and church members in our Fellowship are also anti America and anti civilization. I've heard preachers say that if God does not judge SF that He will have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah.  Really?

How can you say that America is a Christian nation built on a foundation of Christian values and then condemn it to Hell? Do you think that everyone in your church is going to Hell too?

This is why partisan politics is incompatible with the Gospel. This is why pastors need to stop politicizing their message. Turn off talk radio. God forbid you have a TV. For us the scorner is the talking heads on radio and television. Cast them out of your life.

"And seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to the Lord for it; for in it's peace you will have peace." Jer. 29:7

Instead of preaching hellfire and brimstone, maybe we need to pray for our country, our city, our president. Maybe we should let our light shine and not proclaim doom and gloom to fall like a shadow.

We are not trying to build a nation, we are trying to win souls. We are not kingdom builders, we are earth fillers.

Benefits Outweigh The Costs

"Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. For if one fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls." Eccl. 4:9-10

The Bible makes it clear that we are social creatures. No one thrives on his own. No one accomplishes much on his own. There is safety in numbers and there is security in community.

This is one reason why we do not send out single men. We send out married couples. Together they can can build a work for God in a new city. Together they can thrive in the place where the Holy Spirit leads them to go. While Paul was not married, he never traveled or ministered alone. Jesus always had men with him. We need others in our lives and in our ministries.

This is why marriage is so important for young people starting out in life. Marriage is not your ticket to ministry. Marriage is valuable on it's own merits. Having someone on your side no matter what happens. Having someone in your corner when life hits you hard. Having someone who you do not have to impress or coerce to get them to support you. The benefits of marriage far outweigh the costs of being married.

"Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm; but how can one be warm alone?" Verse 11

We get more for going to church than hearing our pastor's eloquent preaching. We have a great social benefit just by assembling with those of like precious faith. The benefits of going to church outweigh any cost involved in going to church.

God in His wisdom noticed that man is missing something when he is isolated and alone. From the beginning of human history God set in place institutions to assure that men need never be alone.

"And a three fold cord is not quickly broken." verse 12

A Change Of Focus Needed

 "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father." Jn.14:12

As the Fellowship grew pastor Mitchell began to travel trying to make sure that pastors stayed on track, and that we continued on in the faith once delivered to us. He preached at conferences. He preached in churches. He was focused on helping pastors thrive in their ministry. He was not taking vacations to exotic places.

When pastor Mitchell began to do crusades, what kind of crusades did he do? They were salvation and healing crusades, with the focus on healing. He would preach a short message, then work at getting people Divinely healed. He always gave an altar call, but he did that in a regular church service. They were not evangelistic crusades per se. We sent outreach teams to help promote the crusade and often we would tell people who we met to bring the sick and that Jesus would heal them at the crusade.

Those who are focused like a laser beam on soul winning, do you ever heal the sick? Do people carry their crutches or push their wheelchairs when leaving your crusades? Do cancers disappear or the deaf hear or the blind see when you preach? Why not? Are you so concerned with their souls that you ignore their infirm bodies? Where are the greater works my brothers?

Putting the pressure on your people to do all of these greater works is ignoring the fact that this burden rests on leaders to perform. Evangelism will happen, Divine healing takes a change of focus.

"Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, why could we not cast it out? So Jesus said to them, because of your unbelief..." Mat.17:19

How is it pastor that you have no faith?