Spiritual Warfare

"But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the son of man be." Mat.24:37

One thing about the flood that is very clear is that the flood did not eradicate evil from the earth. It judged evil doers who had filled the earth and corrupted humanity with evil.

Sin has been a part of the human experience ever since the great fall in the Garden. But great depths of evil were not understood until the time of the Nephilim. These were the offspring of the perverse union between heavenly beings and human women.

"...the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose." Gen.6:2

Extrabiblical sources tell us that these women, who knew the story of how the serpent beguiled Eve and got her to rebel against God, seduced the angelic visitors. Much like the women of Baal Peor did to the children of Israel.

"Now Israel remained in Acacia Grove, and the people began to commit harlotry with the women of Moab. They invited the people to the sacrifice of their gods..." Num.25:1-2

Women, who feel powerless and want to be men, had enough power to not only seduce men, but also to seduce angels. And the offspring of these unholy unions were evil and corrupt and demonic. And the mothers of these Nephilim urged them on to do things to increase their wealth and power.

By eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, Adam and Eve opened doors that caused humanity to fall to evil and sin.

Did you ever wonder why Noah's wife is unnamed as well as his daughters in law? I have an idea. But not for here.

This curse is still active today. We may not have giants roaming the country. But evil is rampant today just like back then. Women still require an extra covering to prevent them from commiserating with angelic beings again.

"For this reason the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels." 1Cor. 11:10

Thank God that in Christ every curse is broken!

Reaching Youth is Important.

 According to Arthur Brooks, three out of five young people in the US today feel that they have no meaning or purpose in life. They are suffering with anxiety and depression caused by an unfulfilled and meaningless life. Part of the problem is that kids today are living what is called a simulated life. Not enough real human interaction. Unbalanced mental and emotional development. And according to mister Brooks, religion is very important to giving meaning to life.

This is just another reason why revival happens among young people. Not only are they open to change, they feel the need to know why am I alive and to give them something to live for.

The things that young people deal with today are nothing new. It is human nature to need a meaning to life. God created us with what one person called a God shaped hole in our hearts that only Christ can fill.

Pray to the Lord of the harvest that He will help our church kids reach their peers. Pray that we can reach this generation while there is time. Prayer is something that grandma and grandpa can still do.

The future of our Fellowship is two fold: preach to the poor, and reach the young.

My Thoughts For Today

What if instead of looking at what successful churches do and copying them, we look at what successful churches do not do well and innovate to do one or two things better than them? We can innovate without straying from or core beliefs. We do not innovate over doctrine, but over practices.

I'm thinking of how we greet visitors, or how e minister to children, or how we follow-up new converts. What kind of worship music we sing and how many musicians we use. What our pulpit looks like. You see what I mean? 

If we copy a successful church then we are no different and therefore no better than them. We become the dreaded cookie cutter church.

A new pioneer church needs to copy it's sending church until they reach a point where they are strong enough and wise enough and secure enough to find a better way. 

A pastor can lead the way first by not always comparing us to the church he got saved in years ago. Pastor does not need to come up with all of the ideas himself. But he does have to be open to innovation from the pews. Pastor can expedite innovation by not being a choke point that every idea must meet his approval.

The worst thing for a local church to become is boring. The other thing that a local church must avoid is sameness. Someone just like you will do it better than you do it.

Anyway, that's just my thoughts for today.

The Ancient of Days

 There is an interesting character introduced to us in Daniel chapter seven. He is called the Ancient of Days. This figure is  only mentioned three times in the Bible, and all three times are in Daniel chapter seven. We first meet this figure in verse 9;

"I watched till thrones were put in place, and the Ancient of Days was seated" verse 9.

Some scholars feel that this must be God the Father. Some even think that this is God the Son. We are not sure except to understand that the figure called one like the son of man is Christ.

"I was watching in the night visions, and behold, one like the son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven!" Dan. 7:13.

It says that when this son of man appears he is brought before the Ancient of Days, who gives him a dominion and glory and an everlasting kingdom.

One reason why I question if the Ancient of Days is God is that fact that we are told what He is wearing. God is spirit, he is clothed with light. He dwells in unapproachable glory. But the Ancient of Days is clothed in a garment that is white as snow. He has white hair. God does not have white hair.

What this scene looks like to me is a convening of the supreme court of Heaven. A similar scene is found in Revelation chapter 20.

"And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgement was committed to them." Rev.20:4

Note that in both instances there are multiple thrones. Who is sitting in judgement on these thrones? Neither Daniel or John recognized these figures. Maybe it is a mystery we will not understand until we get to Heaven.

That this is a courtroom is illustrated clearly to me.

"I was watching; and the same horn was making war against the saints, and prevailing against them, until the Ancient of Days came, and a judgement was made in favor of the saints of the Most High, and the time came for the saints to possess the kingdom." Dan.7:21-22

The Ancient of Days carries the weight of Divinity, and the Son defers to him. He sits as a judge of the nations, and gives kingdoms. He is never explained or mentioned anywhere else in Scripture. He is an important figure and Daniel saw him in a vision. 

In Revelation chapter 20 we see God sitting on a throne.

"Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away, and there was found no place for them" Rev. 20:11

A similar setting with different results.

I can come to no certain conclusion. I will file this in my unanswerable questions file.

Prayer Request.

Speaking of follow the money. I was checking my check book today and I noticed something amiss. The bottom line is I am missing $4000 that I thought that I had.  I keep good books and I do not let it get out of hand. But somehow the money has evaporated. The bank checked, I double checked, and we can't find any unusual activity.

Pray for me. I need Jehovah Jireh to be my provider and to restore to me what the enemy has taken.

"The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." Jn.10:10

Follow The Money

 If you aim at nothing it is sure that is what you will hit. Nothing. If you aim at the wrong thing, you will miss it by a country mile. Guaranteed. It therefore is important that we know our aim and goal in life lest we find ourselves wandering in the wilderness of failed dreams and missed opportunities.

It is possible to be highly intelligent, and yet to be dumb as a box of rocks. This sums up my opinion of the lords of high tech. They can engineer machines but they cannot see the forest for the trees. They cannot grab their butt with both hands and a mirror.

"Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?...Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men..." 1Cor. 1:20,25

Science and technology are not the answer. They are building man made tools and calling them gods. They treat them like divine beings. Ask Sam Altman to define intelligence and his answer changes depending on his audience.

I can sum up the lure of AI in one Bible verse.

"For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows." 1Tim.6:10

Mark it down. Tech is about money. Not about serving humanity. AI  has become an excuse to eliminate good paying jobs to make millions more for the corporate officers. 

He that dies with the most toys still dies. And then comes the judgement. It's time to repent!

Science Does Not Explain Most Things

 "There are three things that are too wonderful for me, yes, four which I do not understand: the way of an eagle in the air, the way of a serpent on a rock, the way of a ship in the midst of the sea, and the way of a man with a virgin." Prov.30:18-19

Somewhere along the line we have bought into the scientific method. We believe that science can explain everything. There is a cause and effect for every action. This has defined the natural world that we live in for a long time. Except when it doesn't.

Science cannot explain how a man falls in love with a woman. Science cannot explain how going with your gut produces a better outcome. Science does not explain economics or emotions or the spiritual side of life. Not everything can be broken down to a mathematical formula.

Dating apps try to match you with someone just like you. Except in nature it's opposites that attract. You marry young, grow up together, and you will be similar in actions and habits. You may compliment each other, but you are two very different people.

We try to make church life in this same light. We view it as a program or as a system. Check all of the boxes and get guaranteed results. And then we get mad at God when it doesn't work like that.

"The wind blow where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from or where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit." Jn.3:8

Science and physics and math can explain some things but they fail to explain most things. Science is not God. Being born again opens us to the reality of life as God ordained it. We become spiritually alive.

"That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." Jn.3:6

We Are Thriving!

 The experts keep saying that the American church is in decline. Falling attendance, loss of income, loss of relevance in society. Things are not looking good for the churches around us.

Then there is our Fellowship. We are not a denomination. We are a loosely knit fellowship of local churches. And unlike the other dead churches in town, we are thriving! We still see people saved, and healed, and filled with the Holy Spirit. We still openly worship and boldly preach. God is still moving by His Spirit among us. We are a part of the only segments of churches still growing which are non-denominational churches and charismatic churches. Where God is welcome and active there is life. It is only in old, dead, lifeless churches where God is a memory or only a doctrine.

"For where two or three are gathered together in my name, I am there in the midst of them." Mat.18:20

The Holy Spirit could be absent from some Sunday morning services and no one would know. But we would know!

We are a city on a hill, a light to the world. We are the pillar and ground of the truth. When the whole world lies in darkness, our light will shine brightly. Even if no one in the national news recognizes it.

"As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." Jn.9:5

"If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness." Mat.6:23b

I may not be much, but I am still here. I shall not be moved.

An Interesting and Relevant Fact.

 Here is another interesting and relevant fact. By 2030 there is projected to be 1.4 billion people on earth between the ages of 15-24. Most of these young people will be from sub Saharan Africa. A full 90% of this age group will live in the developing world. This is a huge population shift. While the western world is not getting married and not having children, forgotten people around the world have not stopped having children.

As a Fellowship we need to ask the Lord to help us tap into this vast sea of humanity. It is time for young people to get serious in discipleship and make themselves available for ministry. We may not just send workers to Africa, they may need to learn how to pastor first. But we have to start sooner rather than later.

Pray for your pastor and for our leaders that they would find wisdom and direction for us. Pray that your pastor's heart would burn within him for the nations. Pray that our young people would stop fooling around and get married. Pray that the Lord of the harvest would send forth laborers into this harvest.

A Time For Leaders To Lead

 Here are a couple of interesting facts. In the US ten thousand people turn 65 years old every day now. And world wide by 2030 one in six people will be over sixty years old. This is a trend that will continue for many years, until the baby boom generation passes from the scene.

The problem is that after the boomers, no generation following is as large as their predecessors. Gen Z and Gen X are much smaller. Like Japan, much of the developed world if reaching a point where we do not have enough marriage and babies to replace the population. This will not be fixed in a year or two. This will take a generation or two to turn around.

Some of our larger churches have reached a point where the explosive growth is over and they have leveled off in attendance. We still outreach and we still pray with a lot of people but we do not grow in numbers.

We have reached a point in time where we must come up with ways to reach the world as it is with the people we currently have. It is a time for innovation and new ideas. Grandma and grandpa do not go to music concerts or listen to rap. Middle aged couples who both work do not attend morning prayer or go to every service.

We have for all of our lives lived in an atmosphere of growth and our future has always been bigger and better. We had growing attendance, growing income, growing numbers of church plantings. Now those old pools seem to be shrinking and we are left with big budgets and few workers.

This is a time for leaders to lead forward into the future. It is not a time to reminisce about the past or to complain. It is time for leaders to find out what God is doing today and to lead us into that brave new world. 

"...the night is coming when no one can work." Jn.9:4b

Revival Time

We are in revival with pastor Scott Lamb this week. So far, so good. Great pastoral ministry. Pray for us to have a good week through Wednesday night. 

Rapture 1.0

I want to share my thoughts on a pre-tribulation rapture today.

First, it will be business as usual when the rapture happens. Matthew 24 tells us it will be like the time of Noah's flood. Eating and drinking, marrying, right up until it began to rain and Noah's family disappeared into the ark. They were taken by surprise, with little fore warning. The unbelieving world will be taken by surprise when the rapture happens. Noah was prepared, his neighbors were surprised.

"and did not know until the flood came and took them all away." Mat.24:39

Second, it will be an immediate transformation from natural to spiritual.  

"Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne set in heaven, and One sat on the throne." Rev.4:2

Third, it will sound to us like the blast of a trumpet.

"For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God." 1Thes.4:16

"After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this." Rev.4:1

God's plan has always been to rescue us from judgement and to take us out before judgement begins. Noah and his family were all in the Ark before the flood waters destroyed the face of the earth. They rode out the storm from above. 

"For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ." 1Thes. 5:9

There is more, but this gives us an overview of the events around the rapture. Maranatha!

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?

The End Of The Mega Church Model?

The mega church model, or the bigger is better model, seems to be fading into the sunset of church history. Big churches are failing, going bankrupt, and closing their doors. Covid seems to be the beginning of the end for some of these trend setting churches. It's not all moral failure. Big churches depend on an ever growing revenue stream and when attendance falls off or when tv viewers diminish so does the millions of dollars that they need to stay open.

Our Fellowship has mocked those mega churches over the years. But when your church buys a multi million dollar building have we become just like them? The only thing that keeps some of our churches from growing into the thousands is the hard preaching we hear on a regular basis. I guess that if you notice your pastor sounding nice and acting cordial maybe he has discovered this. Pastor Mitchell has said that truth is hard on church growth.

"From that time many of his disciples went back and walked with him no more. Then Jesus said to the twelve, do you also want to go away?" Jn.6:66-67

I've lived long enough to see mega churches begin, and thrive, and now fail and close down. I think that we could learn some valuable lessons from our too big to fail neighbors.  The mega church model may just be a flash in the pan in the light of history. 

When a mega church shuts down, where do the people go?

 

Thoughts On Teaching In Church

There is a big difference between being a preacher and a teacher. A preacher preaches his message and then calls for a decision. A teacher, having studied and lived, tells us what the Bible says and also tells us what it means. It is not just preaching while other people read your verses for you.

Teaching means dispensing the truth, then opening for questions. If no one has questions, you are not a good teacher. A good teacher not only talks, but he ministers and his focus is on truth. If from week to week you have to re-teach the same thing over again you did not do a good job teaching it the first time. 

Doctrine is the focus of teaching. Explaining what the Bible says and what it means. Applying dusty old doctrine to real people. Causing the word to be made flesh among us.

I wonder if some teachers dumb down their lessons to keep people dependent on them for revelation. They do not trust people to grow up.

If teaching were easy anyone could do it. It takes a lot of study and it takes a lot of reading and it takes the spirit of Truth to guide the teacher into all truth.

No church will grow beyond the level of preaching of it's pastors. No Christian will mature beyond the skill of it's teachers. In church God has given us all that we need to grow and to mature.

Pray for your pastors that they may be filled with wisdom and that they will rightly divide the word of truth.

 

Clearing Out The Cobwebs

 This morning we had our regular Saturday morning prayer meeting. We had a good turnout today. But what I noticed was how even though all three of our pastors were present, not one of them shook my hand and greeted me. Our pastors here just do not do that. I don't go around and greet everyone either. But I'm not the pastor here.

We got together for lunch this week. Six of us retired guys got together. Not everyone who was invited came. But we had a good time anyway. We always get into deep theological discussions. We rarely talk about the weather or anything else. I tried to talk about health issues and that worked for a while. I wonder if there is a genuine interest, or if they feel like we are supposed to only talk about spiritual things.

Some guys were at church this morning cutting the grass and cleaning up the grounds. They recently repainted some of the stripes in the parking lot. I thought that conference was not until in the fall. I wonder why all of a sudden we are sprucing up the place.

Make new friends, and keep the old. I am grateful for friends near and far away.

Aging Saints

Because of my age and my underlying conditions I have to take precautions that others may not need to take. I get vaccinated when it's available. I see doctors on a regular basis. I do not want to get caught with something if we can catch it early. I take precautions.

It would be nice to live footloose and fancy free like I did in my youth. But my experience dealing with my wife's illness and death mean that I do not take medical issues for granted.

We as an aging Fellowship will need to continue to pray for the sick, but we also need to pray for the aging saints. Pray for strength and pray that their doctors will be wise in treating them.

Pray for me. 

Not Men Of Understanding.

 The more that I spend time with guys here the more concerned I am at how shallow their understanding of the Bible is. Things that I take for granted they have never thought about. Things that I consider basic they get all wrong.

Salvation is about a miracle of a moment in time. You have a birthday to mark the day you were born. You should have a birthday to mark the day you were born again. Mine is 12/8/1973.

God set creation into order. Science is a discovery of God's order. It is not proof that the universe exists without God's direct involvement. The universe and everything in it is here by Divine inspiration and creation. Not by evolution and physics.

Faith is not anti science. Faith explains science. Science that omits God from it's calculations is wrong and misleading. All honest science leads to God.

Maybe God left the dinosaurs off the Ark on purpose. 

I could go on and on.

A New Day and a Better Day

 Today is a new day full of hope and promise. I hate when I dream about the failures in my life. I have had plenty of failures, but today I plan to succeed. 

Living here I sometimes wonder how different my life would have been compared to living in the low wage capital of Arizona. I might have had a career in a field that was important. I might have made a lot of money. I might be retired in luxury right now. But I didn't live here. I lived there.

But, would I have been saved living here? Would I have met the love of my life and stayed married for 40 years to her? Would my children have turned out so well if they had grown up here? The answer is no to all of these issues and any others that you can think of.

God brought me across the country from a broken home and a lonely life to begin to walk by faith and to continue to follow Jesus like I have for a very long time.

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

Home Visits?

 I recently had a home health visit from a nurse. Nothing critical, just a well patient visit. After the nurse left it made me wonder when was the last time a health professional came to my home to check up on me?

This made me wonder when was the last time a pastor came to call on me in my home. This was not something that pastor Mitchell ever did. My pastor here came to pray for me in my home once a while back. Calling on people at home seems to be a lost art.

In Prescott they have a pastor whose primary job is to minister to the elderly, which often means visiting them in their homes. 

One thing that I can be sure of is that if I end up in the hospital I can be sure that one of our pastors will come to visit me. I appreciate that.

I am grateful that I do not need personal or constant care from anyone, doctor or pastor. I am in reasonably good health and am of a sound spiritual mind.

Wednesday Ramblings

 Wouldn't it have made life easier if ancient people had written down everything that they knew? Maybe they did and it is lost to history. Adam named all of the animals, but we do not know what he called them. Didn't it occur to him to keep a record of important things like this?

Perhaps before sin corrupted mankind, we had superior mental power and we could remember and recall things that today must be written down. No doubt Moses, to write down history contained in the Bible, received this information through oral retelling of the beginning of time. That might explain why it sounds so simple to read the first three chapters of Genesis. Moses wrote down the story as it was not only inspired but remembered by the ancients.

The fall of man in the Garden was more profound and catastrophic than we understand. Man went from being the ruler of planet Earth to being a servant scratching out a living. It is not until the new heaven and new earth that we as human beings will once again enjoy that status and ability that Adam and Eve had in the Garden.

Sin is not just drinking and smoking and fornicating. It is a fall from place and a loss of status and a lack of dominion. Jesus went to the cross to satisfy God's demands, not to make us better people. We will be better people in eternity.

Bigger Is Easier, But Is It Better?

 I have been wondering about something. When did our bigger churches plant the most workers? When they were bigger and had nice convention center buildings, or when they were smaller and more agile in how they operated? What I am wondering about is how many of our bigger churches, for whom the flow of pioneer church plants has fallen off, have spent a lot of money on  bigger buildings?

Bigger churches with big buildings are good for hosting conferences. But they used to host conferences before they got bogged down with convention center buildings. They made it work. It was exciting. A big building takes away the excitement of seeing a service or a conference packed to the rafters with people. SRO is more exciting than empty seats.

Another thing that I noticed is how some pastors, who seem to miss the exciting days of living on the edge, seem to work hard to try to make it happen again in the new, large building. They talk about the early days a lot. They seem to struggle with how to deal with church life as it is. They travel a lot.

The size of a church is directly linked to the ability of the pastor to minister to the church that the Lord has given him. No matter if that church is 50 people or 500 people or 5000 people, the truth is that the Lord will not waste converts on a man who cannot care for them adequately. 

"A man's gift makes room for him, and brings him before great men." Prov.18:16

I once asked pastor Mitchell why our Fellowship had so many small churches. He told me it was because we had so many small men. It is an unfailing rule of God that a church will never rise beyond the ability and the ministry of the men who shepherd God's flock.

Dance With The One Who Brung Ya.

Here is a thought that I had today. Is it possible that the people who threw out hymnals and who gave us modern translations of the Bible are attempting to destroy the faith once delivered to the saints? They have no respect for ancient songs, maybe they have no respect for ancient words or ancient books either.

I am tired of modern emotion based self focused worship songs that tell more about how I feel about Jesus than about who Jesus is and what He did. I am tired of modern versions of the Bible that try to make the word of God hipper sounding. 

The old wine may not be better. But the old songs and the old words got us to where we are today.

Dance with the one who brung ya is all I am saying. 

Search The Scriptures

 "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness." 2 Tim. 3:16

Pastor talked about reconstruction Sunday. He talked about how young people are reconstructing their core beliefs and the result being that they reject the faith of their fathers. He said that this is a bad thing.

I see another problem that has to do with putting the Bible under the microscope of study and the result being that we think that the Bible is an ancient book written by mere men. We think that Genesis was written by Moses and that it was Paul who wrote most of the New Testament. And by doing this we dismiss the wonder of how God brought the Bible into being.

The Bible is not a book of men's ideas on God. It is God's self revelation of Himself to show us who He is and how we should live. The Bible is older than we think and is contains words that are spirit and life.

"It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak unto you are spirit, and they are life." Jn.6:63

First and foremost the Bible is a book about Christ. It is God's plan of redemption written down in book form for us to read and study and obey.

"And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded to them in all the scriptures the things concerning Himself." Lk.24:27

We ought to reverence the Bible and do our best to obey all the things that are written there for our edification, exhortation, and comfort. Pastors need to study it and find the truth contained in it.

"You search the scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me." Jn.5:39

Finally, you need to know Jesus Christ, not just to know about Him. You must be born again. You need to repent.

A Sobering Example

 Acts chapter 5 tells the unfortunate story of Ananias and Sapphira, the couple who lied to the Holy Spirit and paid with their lives. It made me wonder, how do you or I lie to the Holy Spirit? Here is my idea of what could have happened.

Ananias and his wife wanted to give an offering like other people were doing. They had a piece of property and so they made a vow to sell the land and give the money to God. So far, so good. I think that they had an idea of what the land was worth and so their pledge was based on what they expected to get by selling that land. But, they found a buyer who was willing to give them more than the going price for real estate. This is where the trouble started.

I figure that God told them to give it all even though it was more than they planned to give. They figured hey, we will give the original amount and praise the Lord for the blessing of this unexpected windfall. But God said give it all, and they were unwilling to obey the Holy Spirit. So this couple went to church and when the offering plates were passed, they put in their large offering and to them they expected God to honor their gift.

They problem with not obeying the voice of the Holy Spirit is that sometimes, Satan is behind our disobedience.

"Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price  of the land for yourself?" v.3

Ananias thought that partial obedience was good enough. Ananias followed his heart even though he knew what the Lord wanted him to do. Ananias gambled with God and lost. Not only was he not blessed for giving, he ended up dead. And his wife also.

"Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice..."!Sam. 15:22

Rebellion against God is the same as witchcraft. 1Sam.15:23 tells us this.

At a critical time in the life of the first century church God made a point by judging Ananias and Sapphira for their rebellion. This event was never duplicated by anyone else.

From time to time God may speak a figure to you or I to give. It is our duty to obey and give that exact amount. It's not the amount that matters as much as it is keeping our hearts right with God.

"There is one who scatters, yet increases more; and there is one who withholds more than is right, but it leads to poverty." Prov.11:24

America's Greatest sin

Years ago pastor Mitchell preached on America's greatest sin. It was not murder or homosexuality. It was covetousness. Greed for you who think that bigger is better. I wonder what America's greatest sin is today? I think it hasn't changed. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. The billionaires pant over the dust on poor people's heads.  

God help us.

The Pattern

 In our church here we do not have outreach every Saturday morning. Instead we have an organized prayer meeting. One of our pastors will say a few words, then we pray, then we end with singing and corporate prayer. That's all, but that's enough. We have outreach later in the day if we have a concert that night. Or if we have a big event to promote.

My experience in serving the Lord for so long is that we all hold certain truths to be unchanging and unshakable. But every church seems to take on the spirit of it's pastor. And since we are not clones, every man's personality is different. And every church will in time find what works for them.

Find out what God is doing where you live, and do what God is doing locally.

I Am Blessed

 "I have been young, and now am old; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his descendants begging bread." Psalm 37:25

I live pretty well for someone on a fixed income. I have a budget that I stick to. I pay my bills on time. I buy groceries every week without struggle. I am blessed.

God is always faithful and He is always on time. All of His promises are yes and amen to the glory of His name. Amen.

The Third Generation: Another Option

I had a thought on the third generation curse today. We always look down on the third generation as lazy or unmotivated or downright evil. But I have another option for them.

Could it be that the third generation, without the experience of their parents, find their way following another path? They aren't drinking and carousing and chasing skirts. They are busy studying and preparing for their trip through university and onto the career path. Selling out for Jesus was their parents path of discipleship. Becoming a Christian professional is their chosen path. They want to be a Christian doctor or lawyer or teacher or business leader. They want to bring Jesus into their professional world. Sure there will be small compromises, but they will survive. They will even attend church regularly. They will not join in street preaching, but they will pay their tithes.

The third generation will never be their parents. They do not see the point. Their world view is so different than ours. Can we help them, can we minister to them, or will we write them off and focus on a world that died in the 1970's?

The Real Test

Some pastors wear their hearts on their sleeves. What they feel is obvious to all around them. Other pastors keep their personal feelings under wraps. No one is quite sure what they feel or what motivates them. Pastor Mitchell kept his personal ideas to himself. We knew his politics at election time, but not in an odious way. I wonder how pastor Mitchell would have handled the current political landscape and the man currently serving in Washington DC.

My thought is, if you can control your feelings and emotions, then good for you. If you can't then maybe you ought not to let your personal feelings drive your inspiration in preaching. If you are reading or watching or listening to media that inflames your ideology, maybe you ought to stop,  especially when you have to preach. 

The real test of a local church is can we make followers of Jesus Christ, or are we trying to make political activists? Can we minister to people who vote different than we do? Can we minister to people who hold opposing ideologies?

I had a friend in Prescott who was a moderate Democrat in a church full of conservative Republicans. I would ask him how that made him feel. He told me it goes in one ear and out the other. Pastors could learn a lesson and let radical politics go in one ear and out the other. Or not let it go in one ear at all maybe?

Pray for your pastor.

Where Is Everybody?

 The Fermi paradox basically says, given the vast number of stars and the age of the universe, where is everybody? How can we have never been able to contact any technologically advanced civilizations? One thing this implies might be a failure of evolution to explain the origin of the universe.

We live on what they call the Rare Earth model. Earth is so unique in several important ways. We are in a universe that, towards Earth, has proven to be stable. We have a sun that has been stable. We have a stable climate that supports life. It almost like Earth is perfect for living things.

Where is everybody? They are all right here. We live in a perfect world with perfect circumstance surrounded by the glory of God in the universe. 

To be an atheist is to be dishonest. An atheist has a moral problem, not a scientific one. They seem to be the blind leading the blind.

Are You Listening?

 "For I know the thoughts that I think towards you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope." Jer. 29:11

This verse came to me this morning as I was meditating on life and my future in God. I am grateful that God still speaks and that His word still ministers to us when we are listening.

It really is a living hope that the Lord has given us.

Are you listening? You may hear His still, small voice speaking peace to your heart today.

The Third Generation Curse

 Why does the third generation sell the farm? This phenomenon is well documented and well researched. It is sometimes called the third generation curse. This happens whether you are talking about the family farm or a family business or even a local church.

To sum it up it goes like this. The founders build it, the second generation maintains what the founders built, and the third generation squanders it all away. 

I have an idea that I have been thinking about concerning churches. The founding pastor built it, the next generation tries to maintain the pattern, and the following generation lacks the drive and the vision of the founder so they let it all fade away.

Another problem has to do with evolving market conditions. What worked then might not work now. But the founders set the pattern so that we are unwilling to change anything or to overhaul anything. There is a growing lack of innovation. And fresh ideas of how to do what we do are rarely discussed.

Sometimes the generation is people, but sometimes the generation is just the passing of time. We have not been around long enough to see a widespread passing of the torch to a new generation. But the world today is vastly different from the world when your church was first planted.

One more thing. Sometimes the second generation is so dogmatic on following the pattern that they set unattainable standards for everyone else. They make the demands so tough to follow that some will give up and fade away. They are so focused on one thing that they fail to see anything else.

We traffic in ancient truths. It is our job to find out what God is doing today and to do that. We need to make ancient truth relevant to the modern world.

What Triggers Revival?

 Back in the early days in Prescott I recall that pastor Mitchell rarely preached a sermon on witnessing or evangelism. He didn't need to very often. One sign of genuine revival is an eagerness to witness. Everything is so fresh and new and exciting. Personal evangelism was not a common topic of sermons in the early days of revival.

We in our Fellowship seem to have a new crop of leaders who are focused like a laser beam on witnessing and evangelism. They see evangelism in every Bible text. They preach evangelism in every sermon. It seems to be always on their minds. Not that they spend their days on the street witnessing. But since evangelism is no longer an outworking of real revival, they think that by forcing the issue they can spark revival again.

I suspect that pastor Mitchell probably preached on evangelism more in regional conferences than he did at home. So you that only knew him from your conferences did not know that well rounded ministry that flowed through him. At the end of his life pastor Mitchell did not focus on evangelism or witnessing.

It seems to be only those who were saved in revival and who now are leaders and who think that the very early days are the norm for the whole spectrum of the life of faith. They have become the hammer who thinks everything is a nail. They only know one way to live and they ignore the fact that we cannot live like that forever.

So we support the vision and we pray for workers and we give to outreach even though we can no longer participate in any of that.

One more thought. Revival is a Divine work of God. It may be triggered by prayer. But it is never triggered by evangelism. Never.

Study To Show Yourself Approved

To study to show yourself approved in the Bible there are some things that every person needs to know. Whether you are a preacher or a layman, There are well worn tools that men have used for hundreds of years to study the Bible. 

First, study the Bible. Let the Bible speak for itself. Do not try to make the Bible be something that it is not.  If God is talking about marriage, then study marriage. If God is talking about money, then study money. The Bible is a book of words. Learn the definition of words. Try to find the truth that is not always obvious. But above all, read and then study the Bible.

Second, study your subject. With Google at your fingertips there is no excuse to get your basic facts wrong. If you are a preacher I can guarantee that someone in your audience is fact checking your statements on their phone. If you are interested in flora and fauna, then know more about plants and animals than a kindergartener. If you are interested in a subject, put in the time to learn about that subject. I have learned more since I got out of school just by studying subject first proposed by Bible study.

Finally, hear from God. Study with an eye on the one to whom we must give an account. Rightly divide the Word by study. Bible study does not require you to be a PHD in theology. God makes it available to anyone who will put in the work to know what the Bible says.

"Study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." 2Tim.2:15