Pray For Your Pastor

 Have you ever hung on every word that your pastor said while preaching? Have you ever been so engrossed listening to your pastor preach that you wished he would never stop? Has you pastor ever said anything that amazed you or made you stop and wonder at his words?

I was so blessed to be under pastor Wayman Mitchell's ministry for so many years. There were times when he affected me like that. Most of what I know on how to live a Christian life I learned from him.

Pray for your pastor. Pray that God will help him to be a great preacher. Pray that none of his words will fall to the ground. Pray that his focus will be on the people in front of him and not the people watching from afar.

A great preacher will first and foremost preach to his church sitting there, and not to the camera watching him.

Faith is Faith

 "Jesus said to him, Thomas, because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." John20:29

There are many things in the Bible that I have not seen, yet I believe have happened. I believe that God created the natural world by only a word. I believe that Noah's flood was world wide. I believe that Israel crossed the Red Sea on dry ground. I believe that Christ was born of a virgin. I believe that Jesus Christ rose from the dead and that he is alive today in Heaven.

Climate change believers also believe in something they cannot see or prove. They are as religious as we are. 

"Put them in fear, o Lord, that the nations may know themselves to be but men." Psalm 9:20

Jesus and Santa: Two Separate Worlds.

 The birth of Christ and Christmas are two different things. The birth of Christ in Luke chapter two tell us of the events around the virgin birth of Jesus to the virgin Mary. The shepherds, the wise men, Joseph and Mary and baby Jesus are all there. It is a story that we focus on that the the early church seemed to not think was important to mention.

Christmas, and especially American Christmas, is the big holiday that we celebrate on December 25th. The music, the food, the videos, and the memories are all unique to this holiday. There are things that we do for Christmas that we only do for Christmas and no other holiday. The tree, the lights, the stockings hung up, the cookies and eggnog, and Mariah Carey singing. It only happens this time of year.

It is the church's job to remind us of the birth of Jesus and what it means for us. It is also the church's job to help us navigate through this tumultuous time of year so that we survive and thrive and make it through December. 

Don't work too hard trying to force the birth into Santa's world. Let them be two separate things.

Adding Insult To Injury?

 Thanksgiving Day has become an interesting day for me. While I am grateful for being near my family, it is obvious to me that I am not a part of my daughter's family. They have their traditions, they have their friends, they have their habits, and I am only a spectator at their holiday gatherings.

Years ago I talked to old folks who lived alone and I asked they if they had family they could live with. Often the answer was yes, they had children and grandchildren, but they did not want to be shoved into the corner and not be allowed to do anything. That is how I am beginning to feel.

I guess that I will have to speak up and volunteer to do something on Christmas day. 

I am not the patriarch of my family. I do not cook anything  except what I bake to bring to the gathering. I do not help set up or clean up. And everyone is younger than me and I am finding it hard to just chat with these good folks.

It's interesting how I used to be critical of older people and how they acted. Now that I am older, what they did makes more sense. I am not ready to be a Sun City senior, trying desperately to act young when I am not.

Our Fellowship is youth oriented. We who are no longer youth often feel left out or relegated to being just spectators. Then we are mildly criticized as being good people doing nothing. We are old enough and smart enough to know what we can and cannot do. Do not add insult to injury. 

Advice To Preachers

 "And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets." 1Cor.14:32

I have noticed something in my years of listening to preaching. A good preacher can bring a word that ministers to people right now. A great preacher can preach an appropriate message for the time.

Great preachers can and do say a lot when they preach. And one thing that a great preacher can do is preach a calendar based sermon. For a wedding he can preach on marriage. For a holiday he can preach on that particular holiday. He can preach a Christmas message at Christmas. He can preach a Thanksgiving sermon the Wednesday night before Thanksgiving. He can even preach a patriotic message on July 4th. He knows the Bible well enough to be able to bring out a word from God for a specific time.

This takes work on the preacher's part. He has to know the Bible. He has to know history. He has to understand what certain days mean and how the Bible speaks to those unique times and days. He has to have a well of knowledge that he can draw from so that he can say, Thus says the Lord, on a specific day.

Setting yourself on fire and letting people come to watch you burn has a time and a place. So does a national or state holiday. Weddings should be a no brainer. Preach on marriage. People do not usually get saved at a wedding. God can save people even if we do not preach an evangelistic sermon.

So you can wing it and get by. But people will notice if you grow and develop as a preacher. They  might even start coming on Sunday night just to hear you preach.

One more thought. You will have to become a topical preacher to do this. There is no American Christmas or Thanksgiving Day or July 4th in the Bible to expound on. 

"...Therefore every scribe instructed concerning the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old." Mat.13:52

Holiday Thoughts

 In America, in our effort to get God out of the holidays, we have secularized Thanksgiving and Christmas. Thanksgiving is all about family gatherings and American football. No mention of the Pilgrims and their struggles and all the happened a long time ago. Christmas is about the season, the tradition, the family, and gift giving. Christ born of a virgin is never mentioned.

I wonder, with the attacks against the nuclear family, why family gathering is still a big deal in this holiday season. I also wonder if people with no family, or who had a bad family, feel left out during the holidays.

I wonder how many people are lonely during Thanksgiving and Christmas. I went to great lengths to be with people during the holidays. Not always friends and family. I just did not want to be alone. Lonely people learn to get by during the holidays. They do not mope around singing the blues.

If you never had a Thanksgiving or Christmas to remember, maybe you do not know what you are missing. You have nothing to compare it to. 

Thanksgiving is mostly about family. Christmas is about children.

Growing up and growing older your view on the holidays changes. I get joy where I can. I celebrate as I am able. I uprooted my life mostly so that I would no longer be alone for the holidays.

I am grateful for our church tonight. Do you think that your pastor can preach a Thanksgiving sermon and not mention evangelism? It's on days like today you find out how good your pastor is in the pulpit.

PS: please daddy, don't get drunk this Christmas. I don't want to see my momma cry!

Pillar and Ground of Truth

One thing that pastor Mitchell often said is that if you ever hear me preaching unbiblical doctrines, leave. I never left because I never heard him say anything like that. He also scoffed at the idea that we are a cult. Pastor would say that no one does what he tells them to do, so how could we be a cult. We looked to pastor for truth and insight and guidance and counsel. He was, in all things, a good pastor to the Prescott church.

One thing we can do is that if we ever hear our pastor teaching or preaching lies, we can leave. No need for a fight or a confrontation. Just go away. 

Our pastors traffic in truth. They are a reference point that we can lock onto. We are blessed to have good pastors who both tell us and show us what the Bible says.

"...that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the pillar and ground of the truth." 1Tim.3:15

College or God?

 Most of you do not know the difference between blue collar and white collar jobs. Most of you do not remember when most jobs in America did not require a college degree to perform. Times have changed. 

In our Fellowship you can be a successful pastor with no college degree. You can affect the lives and destinies of real people with little or no university training. You can do everything that pastoring a church requires with nothing but a heart full of God and the Bible. God does what we cannot do to help people through the trials and tribulations of life.

The day you have to have a college degree to pioneer a church in our Fellowship will be the beginning of the end for us.

One more thought. We have been encouraging our children to go to college. We have bought into the college is the answer doctrine. We trust more in the wisdom of this world than in the wisdom of God. Since we have done this, are we planting more churches than we used to?

My Dream

 Last night I had a dream. I do not remember all of the details of the dream. But there was some accounting going on and a balancing of the books. As I waited, the accountant was crunching some numbers. The numbers he was tallying were $12,000 times $12,000 times $12,000. That sum is one trillion, 728 billion dollars. I woke up and the dream ended.

There is a song that says,  If I had a million dollars, I'd be rich. If I had 1.728 trillion dollars I'd be rich.

The silver and gold all belongs to God. The cattle on a thousand hills is His. The wealth of sinners is laid up for me. He is able and willing to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves.

What would I do with that kind of money? I would cancel Social Security and Medicare. I would renovate this house and rent it to a family at a reduced rent. I would get a small condo to live in. And I would give to all of the churches that helped me throughout my life, from Prescott to San Antonio.

It is time for the Lord to act!

Random Musings

 Expository preachers seem to think that the only real miracles that God does today is the miracle of salvation. While God goes to great lengths to save us, is that all He can or will do for us?

Evangelism, discipleship, and church planting are the hallmarks of our Fellowship. I pray that the Lord will continue to use us to do these things. Win souls, plant churches.

All of my friends are in church. I have witnessed to and even preached to all of my remaining family members. I live alone and only go to church 3 times a week. My harvest field is very small.

I noticed that some pastors wear their hearts on their sleeves. You can tell what they are truly excited about when they preach. Some sermons are good and true. Other sermons seem close to his heart.

As a youth oriented Fellowship, what are those of us who are no longer young supposed to do? Act young? We despise old folks who try to act young.

I am grateful for this day, for all that I have, for my family and friends. And for a church that ministers to me.

God bless us, everyone!

Questions Answered?

 "We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord." 2Cor.5:8

"...and the dead in Christ will rise first." 1Thes.4:16b

The question came up as to the state of those who die in Christ between the time of their death and the rapture of the church. Are they in heaven? Are they in limbo? How can the dead rise first if they are already in Heaven with Christ? These are questions that wiser men than me have pondered over and wrestled with.

Here is one way of answering this apparent contradiction.

The rapture is the transformation of our old bodies, in this case now long dead and returned to dust, into the bodies that we will have for all of eternity. Like the angels. Those who have died still live, but in a disembodied state. They are waiting to be clothed with our new bodies which will happen in the rapture. Jesus had a resurrected new body that was not subject to the laws of physics like we are now.

While the Christ-rejecting world is being judged, we will be in Heaven with Christ at the marriage supper of the Lamb. Until that moment when we accompany Him back to earth to defeat the antichrist and to set up the millennial kingdom.

One other question arose. Will we recognize those we knew on earth and will we be able to communicate with them? I think the answer is yes on both counts. I do not know what my relationship with Kathy will be in Heaven, but she is there and I will know her. All of the Bible characters will be there. Those we knew in this life who are saved will be there. Remember, it is all about Christ, not grandma.

When you have been saved as long as I have, you have already picked all of the low hanging fruit of the Bible. There are other questions and other revelations to be had, but they take a little more work to find answers and to understand.

Bible Study Benefit

Tonight we have our home Bible study group meeting. These groups are promoted and supported at church. For me, who lives alone, these are important times of true fellowship. I look forward to our gathering three times a week for church. And I look forward to our Friday night gatherings as often as we have them.

I know it is a lot of work to host one of these groups. But as one who benefits a lot from them, it is worth it! Anything that puts me into a social gathering with like minded people is valuable.  Not every gathering is the same. But to be with God's people to talk about God's word is worth more than I can express.

Why No Marriages?

 Why is it so hard for our young people to meet, date, court, and get married today? There is a natural, God given attraction between men and women. There is a drive in young men to want to find a wife. There is a yearning desire in young women to want to find a husband.

The homosexual movement is a way to short circuit God's plan. It takes little effort to find and attract and connect with someone who is just like you. It takes a lot of work to find and connect with someone of the opposite sex. But the prize is worth the price!

I wonder what we, as a local church, can do to help facilitate marriage among our young people?

It seemed so easy as I look back on my life. I was born again, and I noticed that there were saved young women who seemed attractive to me. Girls who had become discouraged over the lack of good men to date and to marry decided to pray about that situation and ask God to help them find husbands. It worked!

If you aim at nothing, that is what you will hit. Nothing. If you aim to get married, there is a good chance that is what will happen. If  what you are currently doing is not producing the desired results, maybe it's time to try a new approach.

Unless you really think that staying single is desirable. What if your parents had felt like that?

I think that it really takes only a tiny bit of effort to do what people have been doing since the Garden. 

Preaching 1.0

 There are two basic styles of preaching used in churches today. Topical and expository preaching.

Topical preaching uses the Bible to address issues from any walk of life. Marriage, fear, service, salvation, faith, etc. Often a topical preacher does not use a long text, but only a verse or two to set the direction of his message.

Expository preaching lets the Bible speak for itself. It uses Bible stories or people and explains, from the Bible, what they did, why they did it, and what happened to them. Very few real life illustrations are used.

Pastor Mitchell was a topical preacher, but an expository teacher. He used a sermon to speak to real life issues. He used adult Sunday School to explain doctrine or Bible truth. Sunday school to explain what we believe, and sermons to challenge us to apply what we believe in our lives today.

The Bible story never changes. Every time you read about Moses or David or Paul, the story always ends the same. Telling us what they did and why they did it is okay if you know nothing about the Bible. Some of us know these stories inside out. We need to know the "this is that" for today.

I think that topical preaching is best. I think that expository is best for teaching. But that's just me.

What Church Is.

 In the US we have two sides or two parties. But I think we have more than two.

We have Republicans and Democrats. And we have the Bible.

We have conservatives and liberals. And we have the Bible.

We have Right and Left. And we have the Bible.

We even have capitalism and communism. And we have the Bible.

We have Oligarchy, and we have Meritocracy. And we have the Bible.

One thing that our economic system has done is to separate people by class and education so that we do not mix or mingle anymore. But church is not set up by class or education or even by political party. It is set up by faith in and belief in Jesus Christ. Our church is held together by our common faith. Period.

Injecting politics or political ideas into a local church erodes that common bond and causes some to stumble. Not everyone votes like you think that they vote. 

America is a Christian nation, not because our founders were Christian, but because a lot of Christians live here. 

By the way. It is the Bible, not politics, that guides our lives. We come to church to hear a man of God explain to us how the ancient words of the Bible apply to our lives today. We do not come to hear old stories told again and how ancient people behaved. We come to hear what God in Christ will do now, today.

Bible Lesson For Today Eccl.4:9-12

 "Two are better than one" Eccl.4:9

Old king Solomon carried a heavy load. All of the wisdom that the Lord had given him was almost more than he could bear. He understood life in ways that we marvel at. His wisdom makes up part of the Biblical cannon. But it all seems pointless and empty to him.

In Ecclesiastes chapter four he writes about an area that hits home to me. The benefit of not being alone when calamity strikes. The multiplying effect of joint effort. I have used these words to highlight the unusual benefit of being married. The marriage union multiplies reward, supports the fallen, keeps you warm, and strengthens your defenses. Make it a Christian marriage and you have a threefold cord that is not quickly broken. This could apply to church, or to business, or to any enterprise that people work at. Two are better than one.

One is good, but two are better. One is better than none, but two are better.

"I will never leave you nor forsake you." Heb.13:5

Our church provides that union and that multiplying effect as we gather together and work together.

The Disappointed Son

 Under the Law, the firstborn son gets a double portion of the family estate. In Christ, all of the benefits of the Law are ours. Except when they aren't.

When my father died in 2007, I got nothing from him. His wife got everything.

When my stepfather died, his wife got everything. I got nothing.

When I die, my will provides that my estate be divided equally between my two children. So I am better than my parents because, while I won't leave much, I will leave them something.

The Hijacking of Christmas

 Did you know that prior to world war two, Christmas was considered a religious holiday? It was not highly commercialized or used to make money. People remembered the birth of Christ and went to church and heard the Christmas story or saw a Christmas pageant.

Thanks to White Christmas, Hollywood and the fledgling television industry turned Christmas into a nostalgic time of friends, family, gifts, and romance. Coca Cola gave us the Santa Claus that we remember and expect. Jesus got pushed off the stage so that music and film could make millions of dollars.

Christ was not born on December 25th. Who knows why that date was chosen. The book of Acts does not spend time on the birth of Christ as much as on his death and resurrection. Christmas is a modern holiday.

One more thought. Irving Berlin wrote White Christmas. Bing Crosby sang the hit song. Is it possible that a Jewish songwriter and his unsaved musician friends turned our attention off of Christ and onto family, longing for home, and tradition?

Just saying.

Bible Lesson For Today John 14:22

 "Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?" John14:22

The disciple asked a question that I think we, from our vantage point in history, can understand better than he could at that time. How can Jesus be selectively revealed? How can he act or speak and it doesn't affect everyone everywhere? Surely if God is revealed, it will be like the sun, touching every nook and cranny of the whole world.

But the Bible record of God and man interacting is always in an obscure place to selected people. Moses on the mountain top. Abraham in a social backwater in the desert. Even Paul, who traveled and preached in a vast area, was unknown outside his ministry areas of influence. Pastor Mitchell managed to stay out of the public eye, and I suspect that that was on purpose.

Look at the Lord's answer to Judas' question.

First, Jesus tells us that love is the motivating factor. Love first, obey second.

Second is obey. Do what we are called to do. Evangelize, disciple, and plant churches.

Third is the Holy Spirit. Verse 26 tells us of our need for the Holy Spirit to know, to do, and to obey.

"But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you." John 14:26

Without the active working of the Holy Spirit nothing of any value will be done.

Devout Men

 Pastor preached on the devout men who buried the martyr, Stephen in Acts 8. The word devout is the Greek word eulabes. It literally means taking hold well. It was used as cautious, careful. And it has come to be used as pious, godly, God-fearing. The men who buried Stephen were devout, godly men, not just hired hands.

One other thing in this story. Persecution resulted in growth and expansion and the spread of the Gospel. No church will grow beyond the ability of the pastor to minister. And there is a grace that produces enlargement that only comes through opposition and trouble and attacks from outside and overcoming trouble from within.

The lessons learned from Acts are not always copied literally word for word. Sometimes there is a lesson that is only seen once we take a bigger view of the text.

Turning The Page

 My recent trip back to Prescott Valley reminded me that you really can't go home again. Unlike eternity, life for us is linear. Our lives flow like a river, from point to point, event to event, experience to experience. This is why it is so important for us not to waste time or to miss opportunities.

Because of this truth, life moves on for people. And once you change your location or your situation, life moves on for you and for those that used to be a part of your world. We think that once you leave, and then return,  that things will be as they were when you left. Parents think that their children will never change once they move out on their own. Pioneer pastors think that their mother church will be just as it was when they were sent out forever.  People and places can look familiar, but they are quite different.

Prescott Valley is filled with familiar people and familiar places. But once again I left after this trip realizing that it is not home for me anymore. I have old friends there that I have know for many years. But I have friends here and one day, should the Lord tarry, they will be old friends too. I am grateful for my new home, my new friends, my new church. 

Life is like the turning of a page in a good book. You never know what the future holds until you, by faith, turn the page.

Pray For Your Pastor

From the days of radio preachers to the modern era of pastors on television we see what I call the celebrity pastors. These men are listed as the pastor of a local church. They are in great demand around the world to speak at conferences and to speak at other churches. They write books and produce television shows and they are somewhat famous in their circle of influence.

We, in our Fellowship, have pastors who travel a lot. They are the senior pastors of one of our churches. Their success has made them be in demand to speak in rallies or revivals or in conferences or to do crusades. They are gone from home a lot. They rely on their staff to do most of the day to day work of pastoring a church.

The big difference between the celebrity pastor and our pastors is one is in demand and is revered by many. The other carries the burden of maintaining and expanding the Fellowship vision of evangelism, discipleship, and church planting. One is very wealthy and well known. The other spends a fortune to do what needs to be done.

Pray for your pastor if he is gone a lot. He needs the Lord's help to do what needs to be done. Pray for those on staff who are available for prayer or advice or counseling any time, day or night. And ask the Lord what you can do to minister to those around you every Sunday morning.

Understanding Prophecy

 The Bible is filled from cover to cover with prophecy. Prophets spoke, and prophetic utterances were given, and there were dreams and visions. All of these are ways for the Lord to tell us what is coming in the future.

Prophecy, to make it easier to understand, is a snapshot of a future event. Like any picture, it gives us detail about one moment in time. Prophetic pictures tell of one moment in time for a future event or day. We can try to figure out the where and when of prophecy by looking for details, like looking for clues to identify where and when a picture was taken. One thing though that is absolutely true, one day that event will happen and someone in tune with the Holy Spirit can see it and say, this is that!

"But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:" Acts 2:16

Peter recognized that the picture that Joel had seen was then and there coming to pass.

There is a present aspect to prophecy, that it is happening now. And there is often a still future aspect to prophecy, something will happen in days, months, or years from now. But it will happen just as it was prophesied.

You can look at an old photograph and figure out when and where and who. Men of God can look to the word of God and figure out when and where and who too.

They Still Ask For Barabbas

 "And they all cried out at once, saying, away with this man, and release to us Barabbas." Luke23:18

The question today is, why Barabbas? Why did they request that a hardened criminal be released instead of the innocent Christ? The easy answer is that the crowd was motivated by the words of the Jewish leaders. They delivered Jesus up for envy. The crowd was caught up in the antichrist spirit of the day.

I suggest that we all might have chosen Barabbas given the right mix of circumstances. I'm sure that those closest to Christ were not in that crowd. I guess that given the choice, the elites will always choose contrary to God's will.

Was condemning Christ to die on a Roman cross contrary to God's will? To this end Christ came into the world just at the right time to do this very thing. It is one of those strange things that, though it is woe to those who do it, it was God's will that it be done.

I wonder if Satan, gloating over seeming victory, began to wonder if it wasn't going too easy? When did it dawn on him that he had played right into God's hand? Even Satan could not stop what he had started. It had to be done to fulfill God's plan.

The elites of society will never be on the Lord's side. They have too much invested, and they have too much to lose. This is why we are called by God to preach to the poor. 

Jesus said that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to get saved. It can happen, but it is highly unlikely. Give them Barabbas, give us Christ!

The Fabric Of Life

 A couple of years ago I paid a visit to my old friends in the Prescott church. When I left to come back home, I thought at the time that was my last visit to Arizona. But my how times have changed. Tomorrow I will be flying back to Arizona to spend a couple of days with my old friends. It will be fun to see them again, even though I have kept in contact with them since I moved.

It will be a short visit, and I will be home again before you know it. But It will be good to get away from the day by day routine I have established here. It will be good to have friends to ride with. It will be good to visit my old church again. 

There is an old campfire song that I learned as a boy. Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver and the other gold. I am grateful to have friends who I have now, and I am grateful for friends that I have know for many years. Together, they make up the fabric of my life.

Praying Out Loud

 One thing that I have noticed here is that some people seem to have a hard time during corporate prayer to pray out loud. And some who pray out loud only speak in tongues out loud. They pray quietly in their native tongue. This is not how we do it.

Corporate prayer is different than private prayer. We pray about different things in public than we do in private. Corporate prayer, like what we do before service, or on Saturday morning, is a time to join together for common and joint appeals to God for His help. We need God to move for us, our families, and our church. We can pray for specific needs. We can pray for individual people by name. We just leave out very intimate personal issues for a private time of prayer.

One thing about corporate prayer is it is loud. We ought to pray out loud, and we out to be heard. There is a fire that burns in this kind pf praying. There is a zeal that is felt in this kind of praying. I believe it is evidence of being Spirit filled to pray out loud in public, just like worshipping out loud during a church service.

If you don't know how to pray like this, find a place kind of close to pastor, and listen to him pray. Then ask the Lord to fill you with the Holy Spirit, speaking in other tongues. Join the Pentecostal throng!

Old Wine / New Wine

I was watching the worship service from a local Baptist church. Here is what I noticed.

When we say hymns, and when they say hymns, we are talking about two very different things. They sing ancient hymns that sound almost classical in their arrangement. The words are soaring and glorious. But the spirit while singing leaves a lot to be desired. No one but the song leader seems glad to be singing.

They use the Bible. They read from the Bible. They quote Bible verses. They believe Bible precepts. But their faith is more academic then experiential. Their application of the Bible is less now and more back then. They expect nothing and so nothing happens. 

Our church is not as lively as it once was. But our average worship service makes you feel the Spirit in a real way and we see the working of God to save, to heal, to deliver, and to redeem. We believe that God will move, and He does!

Once you have drunk old wine you will not be impressed by new wine. You will prefer the old wine and turn your nose up at new wine.

Pentecostals are new wine Christians. Not drunk, but Spirit filled!

On Leadership

 If you are a leader, and no one is following you, maybe you need to reevaluate what you are doing. Either you cause is not compelling people to follow, or your style is not inspiring men to venture out and take risks. A good leader inspires those he is leading. He is out in front, not leading from behind, or leading by proxy. A good leader knows how to run with the runners, and he knows how to stop and rest. A good leader knows the objective, and how to achieve it.

Some men are natural born leaders. Other men can become good leaders. And some of us, understanding the rigors of leadership, make good followers.

The Need For Great Preaching

 One thing all successful pastors have in common is that they are good preachers. I cannot see how they minister to individual people, especially in private. I cannot watch how they treat their wives at home. But I can see their activity in public. I can tell if and how they pray in a public, corporate settings. I can watch, and listen, to how they preach. Most of the larger churches in our Fellowship are pastored by men who have become very good preachers.

What makes a good preacher? I think that he must have something relevant to say, and he must know how to say it so that people want to listen. I think of course that his preaching must be both scriptural and practical. What does the Bible say, and how does that work out in the real world where we live. A good preacher saves the punchline till the end. He does not lay all of his cards on the table in point one. He knows how to save the best until last. He can often have a surprise ending that you weren't expecting. Some pastors are natural communicators. Other men have to work hard to become better at what they do.

Preaching, like the news, must be interesting, informative, and a little entertaining. And of course, true.

You can be a faithful pastor and be used by God to minister to any size group. You do not have to be a great preacher to love people. But to grow in numbers and in influence, you must become a great preacher.

No Way To Win A War

 In Prescott the main thing, besides evangelism, is church planting. One thing that I watched happen in recent years was to see older guys get stirred to do something for God and make themselves available to be sent out. They are good men, they had some success in pastoring, and evidently the fire still burned. So, pastor Mitchell being the visionary he was, would plant them out in the harvest field.

I watched three times where older men were sent, they worked hard for a while, and then they returned back to Prescott, usually with major health issues. Of those three, two have died. The third one is very old now. None of those men, once they had recovered, ever did anything again.

I had a guy who I knew who was like that. He told me how stirred he felt. He told me that he was ready to go again. I told him that pastor doesn't send out guys our age. I told him to be content doing the things that he was doing then. You would have thought that I had slapped his face. But he took my advice, and as far as I know he is still playing in a band and singing in the choir, and hosting a home Bible study group.

One thing that our Fellowship needs to do to deal with an aging church is to find a way to help older folks feel wanted. To appreciate what they have done while they are still alive. To encourage them to find something to do at home. And to gently discourage them from the embarrassment of being announced, launched, and brought home.

Young men see visions, old men dream dreams. Help our older men to have a dream that will sustain them.

Towards the end of any protracted war, the losing side often resorts to drafting children and old men. They are not good fighters. They are all that is left. That is no way to win a war.

The Temptation To Celebrity

 Celebrities have a tough row to hoe. Their success has made them larger than life. They are recognized wherever they go. They have more money than they can ever use. And they think that their status gives them superior wisdom in every area of life.

Experts tell us that Mrs. Harris did not benefit from all of the celebrity endorsements. Regular people do not care what celebrities think.

In our Fellowship we have been spared the celebrity pastor by pastor Mitchell's wisdom to stay off of television. He knew that we could do more, and do it better, by flying under the world's radar. He knew that media appeals to human pride and man's ego and he seemed to know that keeping men humble in their success will preserve them  for future ministry.

We have very few pastors who would be big stars on public media. No high flyers or handsome men to put before a camera. No one to create a stir just by being there.

Most men do not die in the valley of struggle and despair. Most men leap from the pinnacle of success, never to be heard from again.

"Then the devil took him up into the holy city, set him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to him, if you are the son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written: He shall give his angels charge over you, and, in their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone. Jesus said to him, it is written again, you shall not tempt the Lord your God." Mat.4:6-7

If you are tempted to be a celebrity pastor or a professional music minister, ask the Lord for help to keep you grounded, and to keep you humble, and to keep you from falling. Go home to your family, return to your local church, tear up the contracts, and serve the Lord with gladness again.

A Word For Today

This is the day that the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it!

We cannot always control what happens to us in life. But we can always control how we respond to circumstances. We can be fearful, and unbelieving. Or we can boldly say, the Lord is my helper and my strong tower. I will not fear what man or demon can do to me!

"There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love." 1John4:18

Some people are easy to like, but hard to love. It's like we need God's help to love them.

And finally, it still is the joy of the Lord that is our strength. Amen! 

Pray, Don't Fret

 This is the last time that I will write about this election. I have lived long enough to know that one election changes nothing and fixes nothing. One man has very limited power to do anything legally. But to listen to everyone around me, you would have thought that we were electing someone to sit at God's right hand.

No modern president has given anything but lip service to our faith. He might be a Christian. but he does not attend church or pay tithes. He certainly does not speak in tongues or heal the sick. All he does is sign or veto laws passed by Congress. He does nothing to help us, and unless God allows it, he has no power to hurt us.

Our only Biblical mandate is to pray for those in power over us. Pray for the president whether you voted for them or not.

I suggest that we declare a moratorium on politics in our churches. Stop joining the chorus of doom and gloom. We seem to find it easier to think that a president can save us than that God can help us.

Did you know that our country almost did not survive the turbulent 1960's? Revival was the only thing that kept us from going headlong into chaos. Nothing happening today even comes close to that destructive generation. All of the social and moral ills today were born in the 1960's.

So pray. Stay focused on what God is doing. 

It's always darkest just before dawn. When the outlook is bad, try the uplook! 

Pastor Rubi Post Election Sermon

 Pastor Rubi preached an excellent post-election sermon last night. Magnanimous in Victory. How that, just as we learn how to bear up in a loss, we need to learn how to win. In loss we do not threaten or accuse or lash out at the winners. In winning we do not gloat or get puffed up in pride and think that we are better than our opponent.

It is human nature to react to circumstances in certain ways. It does not make us crazy, it makes us human. But as Christians, we are called to a higher standard of behavior. And we are empowered, by the Holy Spirit, to speak and act differently than those around us. We shine as lights in the world when we live and speak and act in contrast to normal human nature.

This does make us better than them. But it is not by anything that we can do on our own. It is God, working in and through us, that makes us different.

"For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure." Philippians 2:13

So, whether your candidate won or lost on Tuesday, God is still working His will among people, families, and nations. We can trust in Jesus today.

Does The Lord Pick Leaders or Not?

 This is a subject that is of little concern to me, but must be of big concern to others. Why can't the Lord make up His mind about presidents? One year it is Trump, an answer to our prayers. The next election it is Biden, God must hate America. Now it's Trump again, preserved from death to serve again. If the Lord wanted Trump, why didn't he just let him win and get it over with before?

Maybe we think that the Lord cares about politics like we do. Maybe we assume that He picks national leaders, as long as they are Republicans. And maybe, just maybe, we are wrong.

If we believe that God picks political leaders then we should be grateful for every leader elected to office, not just the ones who we agree with or who bear our party's stamp. 

Let God be true, and every man a liar.

PS: God chose heathen kings in Old Testament times. Think maybe God knows things about us that we do not know?

Church is a No Politics Zone

I am grateful that our pastors are not overtly political. I could guess how they vote or who they support. But that would be speculation on my part. I am grateful that no matter who gets elected or who wins an election, it does not change who we are or what we do.

The Bible is not a guidebook on how to influence society. The Bible is a book about Christ from beginning to end.

"And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself." Luke 24:27

So, instead of rejoicing or lamenting, let us look unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. Instead of gloating or threatening, let us hold fast to our faith in Christ. 

"But he who glories, let him glory in the Lord." 2Cor. 10:17

Partisan politics, like football in Texas, is divisive and exclusive, and not worthy to be mentioned in God's house or among brethren. We have a living hope, not by who wins an election or who wins the Super Bowl, but by the resurrection of Christ from the dead! 

Turn off your TV and you may find it easier to think clearer.

Apostles Today?

 "And He himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers," Ephesians 4:11

In the early church we read references of apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastors/teachers. All were active, all were important, and all were involved in the work of ministering to God's people.

In our Fellowship we have pastors, evangelists, and missionaries. We tend to label all ministry as first, pastors, and second, evangelists. Even missionaries are sent to be pastors in foreign lands.

Just because we do not use titles, I wonder if we have ministry operating that fulfills the qualifications set forth in Ephesians.

The word apostle simply means sent. Men who were trained and then sent. It by logical expansion implies sending. I wonder if a pastor who disciples men and then sends couples to start churches is actually an apostle? I always felt that pastor Mitchell was an apostle. I think that a pastors of pastors is an apostle too.

We get nervous about titles. But there is no limit to apostolic ministry in the New Testament. There were the 12 apostles, and there are others called apostles who were not of the twelve.

So we do not call someone an apostle or a prophet, but there are men in the ministry today who fulfill these and other legitimate ministries in our churches.

A Friendly Reminder

 Every time that I pay my tithes, I remind the Lord of His promises concerning tithing.

"Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house, and try me now in this, says the Lord of Hosts, if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it." Malachi 3:10

God tells us to put Him to the test in tithing. So as I write my tithe check every month, I remind God of what He promised to do for us. God cannot lie. His promises are all yes and amen in Christ!

The Next Generation.

 Baby boomers are a dying breed. They are retiring in droves now. They will be dead soon. And then we will find out what kind of kids we raised when our children are in control. Will they value our values? Will their main thing resemble our main thing?

Every generation gets their chance to run things. Every generation thinks that they know better than us. This is why the third generation sells the farm. Another king will arise who did not know Joseph and does not keep the vows made to him. One Pharoah promoted Joseph, his descendant enslaved Joseph's family.

We may not be here to see how the next generation handles what we give them. They will have to answer to God and to history for their actions once they are in charge.

Life must be lived to the end, but it will not be the same at the end as it was at the beginning.

Reminding Parents Of Their Past

 It is interesting to watch how, people who used to be young and courting their future spouse, are now the parents of young people courting their future spouse. We apply to our children standards that no one applied to us at their age. We set in place guidelines for our children that no one established for us at their age. Growing up and growing older makes us aware of dangers that we were oblivious to when we were young. Everyone is in favor of marriage until it is their children who want to get married. 

When revival first was happening in Prescott there were a lot of young people getting saved. There were some young families already in church. The parents were excited to see what God was doing. Until the parents began to wonder if their daughters would marry these new convert guys. Some of them actually did marry guys who were newly saved. And they were successful pastors for many years.

When parents grow up they become nervous about the future for their children. How will they turn out, will they stay saved, who will they marry. Life is a gamble with no guaranteed outcomes. At some point you have to let your children find their own way and trust that God is able to help them as they navigate their way through life. You cannot keep them home forever. You have to let them go or you might lose them forever.

Trusting God is easy when it is academic. The challenge for us is when we have to trust God for ourselves or our children. We can trust God no matter who or what. Amen!

The Muscle Memory of Faith

 I took about one year off from bike riding. I used to ride a lot. But between physical issues, meds out of whack, and plain old boredom, I stopped riding. Lately I have missed my time on my bike. So this week I started riding again. On Monday I rode 10 miles, on Wednesday I rode 15 miles, and today(Friday) I rode 21.86 miles. I used to ride between 25-30 miles a day. I give credit to muscle memory. By next week I will be back where I used to be. Muscle memory means that once you have learned to do something, your body never forgets how to do it.

Speaking of memories, some people, as they get older, torture themselves over what they used to do. They can no longer do it. They have aged out of activities. And it bothers them that they cannot do what they used to do. I say, find what you can do now, and do that. Find something that you can do and work at that. Memories are fine, but we have to live in the present, focused on our own future.

I haven't been swimming since I was a teenager. But I bet that if I ended up in deep water today, I could swim back to safety. Our faith has muscle memory too. Once you have proven something in God, you never lose it.