Pastor Campbell in SA

 We have pastor Joe Campbell for both services today. I am looking forward to hear what he has to say. I wondered if he would still come after his wife died. But he is here. 

There were a few times as pastor Campbell ministered that I felt like he was on the verge of tears. It proved to me that grieving is proof that you loved. He spoke on marriage and family and you could tell he missed Connie.

I had a brief chance to say hi this morning. Maybe I will have a chance to talk to him tonight. We have something in common now.

Thank You Lord for Your Blessings [Live]

A Joy Filled Thanksgiving Day

 Pastor Martinez, in his Thanksgiving eve sermon, made an interesting comment.

"Laughter is faith made audible."

The joy of the Lord really is our strength!

Have a joy filled Thanksgiving day today!

Our Only Job

 "And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come." Mat.24:14

There seems to be much confusion in the world as to the role of the church. Most unsaved people seem to have a clear understanding about what role the local church is to play in society.  They start schools or food banks because they think that this is our responsibility.

In this verse it tells us as a local church what the focus of our church ought to be. Jesus said that a mark of the end times is evangelism. Preaching the gospel in all the world. It is not building cathedrals or professional worship teams. It is not producing music or publishing books. It is to be salt and light by the medium of preaching.

Jesus said that by preaching we become a witness to the nations. We, by preaching, testify to the reality of God. And that preaching is what we must do until the end of the age.

The church age is defined by Jesus as a preaching age. God had only one son, and He made him a preacher. God has only one church, one that preaches the Gospel to the whole world. Our Fellowship has been faithful to do this. Will we take up the mantle and continue to do God's will? 

Jesus told us that a mark of the end times is deception. Staying faithful to preach the gospel is the best way to avoid being deceived. This is our only job.

Simple But Not Understood.

 This morning we watched an old clip of pastor Wayman Mitchell preaching in Perth. It is always good to hear pastor preach. We had a time of questions or comments afterwards and 4 men raised their hands to talk. Of those 4 men, not one of them understood or comprehended the important topic that pastor Mitchell was preaching about. It was pretty basic Fellowship ministry, but these men got it all wrong.

My prayer for this church is that it will grow in grace and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ.

Pastor Mitchell spent a lot of time and money to preach around the world to keep our Fellowship on track. I wonder how many other places where he preached did his words go right over their heads? I got it, but I'm not sure if anyone else in the room understood what he said.

Growing Old In Church

 One big question that we all will face one day is how to serve the Lord as we get old. This is a topic for which there is very little usable information available. One common thread is that the elderly are a resource of wisdom that could help the younger generation. Except that first, young people do not care what we think, and second, we tend to tell young people what we did when we were young.

One pastor used Moses and Abraham as examples of old people to follow. Moses was 120 years old when he died. Abraham was 175 years old when he died. To these men, 80 is middle aged. What they did at 80 is not the same as what we can do at 80.

One thing that one pastor said involves prayer. We can pray for others no matter our age. Another thing is just being kind to people. A smile, a kind word of encouragement.

Another pastor suggested that the old folks might make good greeters at the front door at church. Especially when our pastors do not stand at the door to greet people as they come in. That might work.

We have age appropriate Bible study for teens and young adults. In our elderly Bible study we talk about things that none of us can still do. Maybe we need an age appropriate group for us.

We live in such a youth oriented society and a youth oriented Fellowship that growing old you feel unwanted and useless.  I am grateful that the Lord does not cast us off as we get older.

Our Unique Place

Our Fellowship in it's younger years developed a one size fits all approach to ministry. One message for everyone. One expression for everyone. But as we have grown up, some of our Fellowship churches have begun to realize that in Christ all men (and women) are not created equal. And this is expressed in scripture.

"For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function." Romans 12:4

"Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them:" Romans 12:6

A sign of maturity in a local church is when it's members find their unique gift from God and use it to benefit the whole church.

All ministry is a gift of grace. None of it is a result of anything that we do. We can be found faithful and be put into the ministry. We can be disqualified from ministry. But in the end we minister with the amount of grace that God gives us.

Styles Of Preaching

 There are several different styles of preaching. The three main styles are Textual, Expository, and Topical. These have to do with not just the way a sermon is preached, but the format by which it is put together and delivered.

Textual is literally going verse by verse. There used to be a preacher on the radio who famously went verse by verse through the Bible, taking time at different times to explain or expound on a particular verse. Textual may have a place if your aim is to kill a lot of time.

Topical means that through your devotional reading or from your personal interaction with people you come up with an idea that you expand on and embellish to make it make sense. You might add a quote or a poem or an illustration to help people understand what you mean. You take examples from real life and from real people. This is not Bible study preaching. This is practical real life preaching that applies the Bible to the world that we live in. To me, this is the best kind of preaching. Topical is "This is that" preaching.

Expository is letting the Bible speak for itself. Every story is a Bible story. Plenty of verses are used. Every example is a Bible character. Expository is a good method for serious Bible study. But once you have heard about how David killed Goliath the story never changes. Expository is the letter of the law.

Preaching is part art and part science. A wise preacher will find what works and do that and he will not continue down a road that puts people to sleep.

One more thought. Pastor Wayman Mitchell was a topical preacher. He preached practical righteousness. He used real people as examples. He worked hard to become a preacher. We are the fruit of his efforts.

What To Do?

 One thing that I have noticed here is that everyone in church thinks that every sermon is for them and that every calling involves them and that they need to be involved in every outreach. This is behavior more typically found in smaller, younger churches with a zealous pastor and all new converts. So since I am not young or newly saved, I am mystified by the life of this church.

This is not just an expression of our church or our Fellowship. In society part of the problem comes from this idea of thinking that everything is for them and that everything is about them. One author called this narcissistic individualism. We take everything personally. We put equal weight on everything. We live in an in or out world, black or white, my way or the highway.

Could it be that narcissistic individualism is what I see in church? We go to church and we think that everything is for us and that everything is about us.  Maybe it is time for this church to grow up.

I wondered tonight if a healthy dose of topical preaching like pastor Mitchell used to do would make a difference. It's worth a try anyway.

Things That I Miss

I miss the old days. I don't know if those days were better than now, but they were my days. 

I miss singing real Christian songs in church. I miss singing songs that had stood the test of time. I miss singing songs that you only clapped on the chorus. I miss singing songs that you could sing harmony to. I miss not having to stand up for the entire song service.

I miss the church choir. Not because they were professional, but because they sang from the heart. I miss seeing my friends up on stage singing. I miss four part harmonies. I miss church choirs. 

I miss the new convert love for one another. People were accepted and embraced. We shared time together. We shared meals together. We shared ministry together. We spent holidays together. I miss the early days when we were one big family, before we all had families of our own.

I miss pastor Mitchell in the early days before the Fellowship.  I miss the variety of ministry that pastor exposed us to. I miss my pastor.

The old days may not have been better, but they where my days. I miss those good old days.

 

Paying To Worship

 I remember the time when we didn't have to pay for the right to use published music to worship God on Sunday. But today, everything in America is for sale, including the right to sing worship songs that they play on religious radio.

Did you know that to use music you hear for free on Spotify you have to pay a fee to sing in church, especially if you show the lyrics up on the wall? Music that you can watch on You Tube for free you cannot stream without paying a fee to the publisher?

Maybe it's time for song writers to trust God to meet their needs and to give their worship songs to the churches for free. Maybe it's time to turn off religious radio and to stop supporting Christian big business.

BTW: radio is old tech. No one under 30 listens to the radio. Some of us over 30 rarely listen to the radio. I never listen to Christian radio. I think it is boring. And very un-spiritual.

The Too Hard File

 Here's a question from my too hard file. These are questions that can seem easy to understand until you sit down and think about them. Here are the two texts that raised this question in my mind.

"For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." Mat.12:40

"...So the evening and the morning were the first day." Gen.1:5

We are told that Christ was crucified on Friday and was raised from the dead early on Sunday morning. This idea kind of fulfills the three days part, but definitely not the three nights. To fulfill both requirements, Christ would have been raised on Monday morning. Genesis says that morning begins the new day, not midnight.

It takes more intellect than I have to make this formula work. But, the important thing is that Christ was raised from the dead and He is alive today and that He is making intercession for us every day.

Asking and Receiving

 "Ask, and it shall be given to you..." Mat.7:7

My cardiologist gave me a heart monitor to wear. He wanted me to wear it for a month. This bothered me a lot so I reached out to him. I asked the doctor if I could only wear it for two weeks instead of for a whole month. The doctor's office reached out to me and told me that the doctor said two weeks would be fine.

At that moment I realized that because I had asked, I received good news. And this scripture came to me. 

God is faithful and He makes His grace shine down on even me!

Who is First: Family or Christ?

 "He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. And he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me." Mat.10:37

There are some things that Jesus said that seem on the surface to be hard to grasp. Like this verse. Here in the Bible Belt family is everything. People will miss church because of family. People will choose family over friends or anyone else. Let a family member get disciplined by pastor and the whole family is up in arms. The love and devotion people show towards family members is almost idolatry.

Jesus told us that He is to be the focus of the first and the best of our devotion. Christ died for us on the cross. Your mom or dad or spouse or kids did not do that. Birthing you into the world means that your mother did her job. She gets no more reward and is due nothing more for her act of obedience to God's command.  Exalting your mother to god-like status is more Catholic than Christian. 

Sometimes in life the explanation of scripture becomes clear through the experiences of life. I never lived in the Bible Belt before and therefore I was never exposed to the love and devotion that people show towards their family members. It occurs to me that people who dote on their family on Earth think that Heaven will be a great family reunion. I am sorry but that is not how the Bible spells out what heaven is like.

"And I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, see that you do not do that! I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus. ..." Rev.19:10

In Heaven and throughout eternity we will be known as those who are fellow servants who have been saved by Jesus Christ. Not one time did John tell of meeting an old friend or family member in his vision.

God bless the reading of His word. Amen!

Wine and Wineskins. A Lesson For Today

 "No one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine bursts the wineskins, the wine is spilled, and the wineskin is ruined. But new wine must be put into new wineskins." Mark 2:22

1. New wine is a type of the Holy Spirit. God is always new wine. Fresh and vibrant.

2. Wineskins are where wine is stored. The Holy Spirit is present in people. He is not just a wandering cloud. All that God does in this age He does through people.

3. The container must match the contents. It matters where God pours out the Spirit. God pours out the Spirit where it will work.

4. Discipleship works when new wine is put into new wineskins. It's a perfect match.

5. Disaster strikes when we get the containers wrong. Both the wine and the wineskin are lost.

As I get older I notice that in some churches they use a one size fits all approach to ministry. Every sermon is for everybody in the building. Everyone should be involved in everything the church does. Older saints agree with everything the mature pastor says. They just can't do everything that he says.

The danger of the immature and shallow one size fits all approach is that you hurt the person, and you run the risk of losing them. And you lose something of the the anointing and blessing of the the Lord's presence. The wineskin is ruined and the wine is lost.

Jesus did not tell us to make the old wineskins new again. He said to use wisdom to preserve something valuable. Jesus never told us to throw away the old wineskins either. 

Church Music

 I noticed something. When we sing in church, the worship songs we sing do not translate into audible praise very well. The clever songs that stir the emotions do not seem to produce in us a desire to worship out loud. We talk about feeling the Lord's presence, when all we are feeling is the emotional stirring that often happens when listening to great music.

On Saturday mornings, at our prayer meeting, I often notice how, when we are done praying, we sing a simple song and afterwards the room erupts in audible praise. It is loud, and it lasts long. Unlike our church services, this music inspires real praise.

Some people mistake rattle for revival. 

Singing well crafted Bethel or Hillsong songs may move us, but they are too often void of any Holy Ghost anointing. The are not songs about how Great God is as much as they are songs about how I feel about God. They are songs about felt needs and not about worship. They are songs for a seeker sensitive group, not for the body of Christ.

Church music is important. It deserves more than the current wave of modern church music gives it.

BTW: I do not lift my hands just because the tempo of the song is slower. I lift my hands to worship God. 

Astonishment

 This modern world has left us empty and bored. We see amazing video or images that do not fill us with wonder or awe. It seems that everything is for sale. We have replaced great art with great artifice.

Have you ever seen a great athlete do an amazing feat and it filled you with wonder? Have you ever been moved to tears by music? Have you ever looked with wonder at a great painting? There is a word to describe what we feel when we are moved by great art or accomplishment. It is the word astonishment. We wonder, how did they do that? We wonder how they came up with that idea. While we feel connected to them as people, we know that in a thousand years we could never do what they did.

This sense of astonishment is true in our walk of faith. God deliberately makes Himself simple enough for anyone to understand and believe; but He is also so deep and complex that great men spend their lives trying to understand who God is and how God does what only God can do. This idea of how is primary to our sense of wonder at God and human achievement.

I look back at pastor Mitchell with a sense of wonder. How he did what he did. How he helped men become all that they could be. You could fast for 40 days and 40 nights and read your Bible until you pass out and you will never be half the man that Wayman Mitchell was. Pastor did not come up with all of the great ideas. But men inspired by God were allowed to thrive under his leadership.

AI takes what we give it and produces some kind of art or artifice. God created the world out of things that before never existed. He spoke a word and created the natural world out of nothing.

We celebrate salvation as the wonder that it is. We wonder how a sick person is healed. We can be moved by great preaching. There is definitely room for astonishment in our church.

Guitar Playing

 Last night pastor Rubi preached on playing the guitar. He was not giving lessons on how to play an instrument, but rather on how the pressures of life, once God has come through, are like the pressures on the strings that make music come from a guitar. It was a classic pastor Rubi sermon.

But God

 "But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive." Gen. 50:20

Two of the greatest words of faith in the Bible are found in this verse. "But God" is a phrase used over and over again in the scriptures. It explains how, when life seems dark or overwhelming, God has yet to move and therefore, the best is yet to come.

"I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase." 1 Cor. 3:6

"But God raised Him from the dead." Acts 13:30 

"For indeed he was sick almost unto death; but God had mercy on him..." Phil. 2:27

And on and on. Both in the old and new testament this phrase is used to testify of the God who never fails and who will act  and change the factors in ways that make our hearts have confidence in Him. Jesus has promised to go with us to the end of the age. 

It is time for God to act.

Halloween Outreaches

 We did a Harvest Carnival on Halloween. Thirty people prayed with us to be saved. During the evening we put on a play. Ten people responded during the play.

The Prescott church did a haunted house this year instead of a play. Over the three nights 231 people responded. Tiny small town Prescott Valley was more responsive than big city San Antonio.

I am amazed that haunted houses or carnivals or plays work at all! But they do.