Repent and do the first works. . .

Jesus told the Church at Ephesus (through John) in the Book of Revelation, that their discernment was good. They were able to see who was real and who wasn't. They were able to see the one's who claimed to be apostles, but were liars in deed. Jesus commended them for their works and perseverence. He even commended their patience. Yet, he said he had a problem with this Church. . .they had left their first love: Jesus. The Bible says the love of many will wax cold because of iniquity, it doens't say whose iniquity, it just says iniquity will make the love of many wax cold. The fault of the Ephesus church was that they got caught up discerning the falsehood around them and didn't keep first things first. In the process of discerning the iniquity around them, their love waxed cold. Jesus goes on to issue Ephesus a stern warning in three parts: 1)They must remember where they came from. We must be humble enough to realize that the only reason we aren't bound by sin is because of the grace of God, not because we are anything by ourselves. 2) They must repent. Repentence of the saints must precede RE-vival. 3) They must do the first works. The penalty is stated as follows: "Or else I will come quickly and remove his candlestick out of his place." No first works, no annointing. Let's look at that progression once more: (1) We observe iniquity in others and despite our labor and good works (2) our love waxes cold, we no longer are penitent and no longer do the first works so (3) The Lord removes the candle of annointing. Friend of mine, let every man be a liar, but let God be true. Repent, quit looking around and keep your eyes on Jesus. Do the works you did in the beginning and be not weary in well doing.

What time is it?

Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation. Jesus marvelled that men know about the weather, but do not perceive the times. While 156,000 people die per day, 56 million total per year and most of those, sad to say, are unsaved. . .while the divorce rate is at an all time high, 37 percent of babies are born out of wedlock, the technology for the mark of the beast is here and people are receiving the mark, all attention is on the war in the middle east and an epidemic of self-mutilation and body cutting is running loose among the young people of today. WHERE IS THE CHURCH? Is the church too busy celebrating in their "holy" little cliques, enjoying the hybrid Christianity they have created that blends sin, iniquity, apathy, worldliness, materialism and covers it with a Christian candy-coating. Are they too busy with the cares of this world, easing their conscience with inspirational Gospel music. What are the preachers doing? Are they preaching in the anointing that breaks the yoke, or wowing us with their deep thoughts, lightly spiced with humor? Are they too busy competing with one another, fighting with one another, distracted by outward standards of so-called holiness, yet loving not their brother and having no burden for the lost. Has our outreach been reduced to token works to ease our conscience? THERE IS A WORLD THAT NEEDS THE CHURCH TO WAKE UP AND GET A BURDEN! How can we rest on our laurels, and keep hitting the spiritual snooze button, thinking we have more time? Does anyone believe Jesus is coming? Get your house in order, Jesus is coming, ready or not.

The Abundant Life

I worked in a nursing home for awhile. This particular nursing home was for the affluent as it cost $100,000 to register and $4,000 per month thereafter. Evidence of the status of the residents could be seen now and then. One man had one picture of himself with President Gerald Ford and one with President Ronald Reagan. He had been an engineer with NASA. I was personally struggling with a decision I had made to leave the military and the resulting huge financial sacrifice of now working part time for $10 an hour while going to school. I looked at these people who were on the other end of successful lives, trying to make sense of it all. This all seemed like a lonely and anticlimactic end to a lifetime of attainment. Most of the residents could no longer dress well and few had much recollection of their lives. As their lives faded into the sunset, they all had one thing in common: each had pictures of family, friends and loved ones on their night stand. At the end of their lives, this was what they had left, this is what mattered. I reflected on this with a very coherent patient who was 98 years old and felt he only had a few hours to live. I described my decision to prioritize the people in my life over things, money and the trappings of so-called success. "Sounds like you got the rope around the right end of the horse, son," he said. Yet still, there was something missing, something empty about this ending. Then, I met Aleta. The gospel music spilled out of her room into the hall. I was there to assist in lifting her with a special crane because she couldn't move her body. During this painful process, most patients get grouchy and cuss you out, but Grace, with tears of joy streaming down her cheeks would sing along with the gospel music and say, "Thank you Jesus, you are so good, thank you sweet Jesus." Her eyes sparkled and the smile beamed from her almost glowing face. "Yes," I thought, "Jesus came to give life more abundantly." At the end of our lives, what will be important? Will we be able to say we lived the abundant life?

Capitalistic Christianity

No, I am not waxing political; the Bible says to watch and pray and I think it is wise to be watchful and discerning. Often, outside ideologies creep into our churches while we are unaware. If our reading of the Bible shows a stark contrast between the early church and the way we live now, this can expose areas where we have gone astray. The Bible says to seek the OLD paths and walk therein. I, personally, have never been fond of new "flavors" of Christianity and prefer to find the "flavor" that is a sweet savour unto the Lord. The early church member sold all their possessions and had all things in common, but our captalistic society rubs against this idea. Our nation has a proud heritage of prosperity and entrepreneurism. The ideas driving capitalism are those of material prosperity and competition. Signs of success are related to the size of the business, individual status and material wealth. The competition is fierce, and for some morality is an inconvenient speed bump along the road to success. Ethics are situational and bottom lines drive decision making. When those last four sentences (read them again) become true of our churches, something is VERY wrong. While these ideologies work within our world, and unfortunately can even be used to build large corporate churches, this is not building upon the stone the builders rejected. Jesus was born in a manger and achieved little within our capitalistic ideal of success, in fact He said, "Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of God . . .blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth." Jesus is coming back for a church built on Him.

The Race

When I was a young adolescent I ran in track. My favorite part about the sport was the relay race. We had a pretty good team that qualified us for the Jr. Olympics. Due to no support from our school and lack of funds from our parents we were unable to participate at the Jr. Olympics. For years, I was the anchor for the team and because of laziness I stopped practicing and making myself stronger and better. The other teammates continued on and before I knew it I was the slowest one on our relay team. Had jealousy got a hold of me maybe I wouldn't of decided to be on their team. They needed me so I decided to run with them. I think we shocked everyone of our family members. All of us have some competitiveness in us and little did our family know that we were willing to go as far as our little legs would take us. We went from meet to meet and won ribbon after ribbon and eventually, medals. I come from a very small town. You would of thought we would of had tons of support, but we didn't. Our very own school which I love to this day didn't ever support us either. We didn't even have a coach from our school so one of the parents stepped in and trained with us. Our achievements were so great. Our parents tried to have the school support us financial so we could go to the Olympics that were held in Missouri that year. They said no. And to let you know it wouldn't have interfered with our regular school schedule because all our meets were on Saturdays and Sundays. Needless to say we didn't end up going. The memories, however, I cherish with me to this day. You might ask why were we so good? Our timing and hand offs played an integral part in our success; oh yes, and lots and lots of practice. More important than that I think was the support that we had from our families. They were our fanatics in the stands. They were the ones we ran for and loved to please. When ever one elses screams would fade away you could hear our families still hollering and going absolutely bananas. The look of amazement was on each face as we continued to beat teams that we couldn't beat in previous years. Oh, how fulfilled we felt. Life is sometime very much like a race because the Bible even talks about running this race, and the race is not to the swiftest nor the strongest but to him who endures to the end. Sometimes you run alone and other times you run a relay. Thank God there is always a finish line and a reward. Keep on running to get to the finish line in heaven and the reward which awaits you. That is just what we are trying to do as Christians: press toward the mark. I encourage you today run, run, run, don't let laziness stop you from your goal. Jesus will give you the strength to go the next lap and when you have to pass the baton, be content to know they too which run this race after you are running to reach the finish line. The race is almost over, don't faint yet, you'll get your second wind again. The Lord gave you the tools you need to finish this race which can be found in His word. Hear him encourage you and know He is your biggest fan. You can do it. You got what it takes to win!!! Your other teammates are depending on you! Stay focused and don't get distracted by the cares of this life and the fiery darts which Satan throws at you. When all the noise disappears listen for the Lord's voice saying just a little bit longer it's almost over. Your on my team and I always win!

Here are some scriptures on running: Ps. 18:29 Ps. 19:5 Isaiah 40:31 1 Cor. 9:24 Phil 2:16 Heb 12:1 Phil 3:14

The Journey of a Lifetime

We must resist placing people in distinct categories and comparing ourselves among ourselves. Rather than placing people in three neat bins of existence, labelled "Sinner," "Saint," and "Minister," which fits well with our hierarchial society, we must remember that we are all on a journey that lasts a lifetime. This categorization foments falsehood; sinners feel unworthy and the saved folks reinforce this with condescending pity; saints feel that once they land in the "saints" category, they are safe and can coast on to heaven. Ministers, rather than ministering and serving the flock, enjoy a view from the top rung of the hierarchy. How would it be to view all of humanity as being on a journey? Some are a few miles ahead and can warn us of pitfalls; those a few miles behind may need our extended hand of help.

Living By Faith-Its a Life-Style

I was handed piece of paper at our Bible study on Wednesday night, that read: "Endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ." 2 Timothy 2:3

Times of hardness are inevitable. You need to know that. It's true that we've been redeemed from the curse, and there's nothing Satan can do to reverse that, but he is going to challenge you on it. So don't be surprised when things get tough. Times will come when you have to stand strictly by faith, when you'll have to speak and act as though what God says is true even when you can't feel it or see it happening around you. There will be times when everything looks terrible. That's when you must endure hardness as a good soldier. So many people hear the word of faith about healing or prosperity and the think, "Hey! I'm going to try that." Then hard times come, they give up and cave in. Let me warn you living by faith is not something you try. Its' a life-style. You do it when it's hard. You do it when it's easy. You do it all the time because you're not doing it just to get in on the benefits. You're doing it because you know that faith please God (Heb. 11:6). Things may get a little rough at times, but let me assure you, you'll always come out on top if you endure hardness as a good soldier. If you refuse to faint and fall away, you will have the victory. The only defeated Christian is the one who quits! Be encouraged today!

Can isn't the question

The leper told Jesus, "If thou wilt, thou canst make me whole." The leper knew "this man CAN make me whole," the part he wasn't sure of was "WILL He?" Jesus answered, "I will; be thou clean." The real key to faith is not whether or not we believe God is able, but believing he WILL do it to us, for us and through us. It is easy to believe He WILL do it for others, but we think we aren't worthy that He should do it for us. Without faith it is impossible to please God, for he that cometh to God must first believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Draw nigh unto me, promises the Lord, and I will draw nigh unto you. Our faith must be built on our own experiences with God and not merely on mental or emotional acknowledgement of the experiences of others. God gives us faith and calls us to walk beyond our doubts. We know that He can do all things, and we know He does things for others; our walk of faith begins when we believe He WILL for us. Our limitations do not matter, in fact God's callings and promptings are never about readiness they are about willingness. God knows you CAN do all things through Christ who strengthens you, the question He asks is "WILL YOU?"

The Urgency of the Times

As a young man, I was searching for the Lord because I had a pressing feeling that we are living in the last days and I wanted to be sure I had salvation. I travelled church to church to church, denomination to denomination to denomination. Though I kept it to myself, I was silently appalled at the social-club atmosphere of the American churches. The casual, comfortable apathetic existence of Christians left me feeling alone. Did anyone else believe Jesus is coming soon? If you asked them, they would say "Yes, I believe that," and nod their head in an ever casual way. I felt like they believed it in a philosophical, theoretical way. People are emotional creatures, though they hide it well. When a person's favorite ball team scores a goal or touchdown they lose their composure and inhibitions and their true passion leaks out. You picture the reaction you would have if you won the lottery; you know you wouldn't be composed and dignified. If a Christian truly believed they were on their way to HELL for all eternity and had been saved from it, you wouldn't be able to stop their worship, and if Christians really believed that Jesus was coming back soon they would act like it: They wouldn't balk at Godly living, they wouldn't schedule baptisms for next week (just in case the Lord comes in the next 20 minutes), they would be quit to repent, slow to wrath and would want to make sure their salvation. Instead, too many are amassing worldly possessions, eating, drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, fighting with their brethren and loving pleasure more than loving God. Is it any wonder that missionaries are coming to America from third-world countries; we are increased with goods but in abject spiritual poverty. Even our churches have turned into businesses. In the words of John the Baptist "Repent . . . prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight." Jesus is coming soon, repent that you may rejoice at his coming.

The First Service at The Upper Room

What an awesome first service we had at the Upper Room. There was such a sweet presence of the Lord in the chapel. We couldn't of asked for a better kick off service. Many family and friends came to celebrate and support our efforts. I stand amazed still today and ponder all that has happened to the leading up to the first service and the events that have happened since. God truly has opened the door wide for many many possibilities. Our spirit is anticipating what the Lord will do through our willingness to obey and trust Him in our every step. For surely we cannot do anything without Him. With Him all things are possible. I had an encouraging word spoken to me yesterday...If we have faith the size of a mustard seed..

The Lord only knows what the future holds. Time is winding up and we want our lamps trimmed and ready when our Bridegroom calls....Come up Hither!

The WORD alone shall stand!

What a strange and glorious day to be living! You will see a Revival of the word in these days and the false religions will recoil to persecute the truth with much venom. Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation. A modern phariseeism has sprouted and a great falling away has begun as people grow tired of carnal preachers worshipping their buildings and wealth while sowing seeds of discord among the brethren. There is now a hypocrisy so vile as men fight over outward "standards" of holiness and inwardly are full of dead mens bones. Comparing themselves among themselves and proclaiming "I thank God that I am not as these others" instead of beating their chests saying "God have mercy on me a sinner!" These men see not Revival because they are filled with hatred toward their brother. They trust not God, nor the blood of Jesus, nor the power of the Holy Ghost and have returned to the law, with all it's deficiencies, creating a hierarchial, oppressive legal system. The operation of the gifts, the signs, wonders and the five-fold ministry have all but vanished, leaving an exalted Pastor to lord over the flock, supposedly fulfilling all the ministerial needs of the local church. I plead with you as you read this to let every man be a liar, but let GOD be true. WE MUST READ THE WORD THAT WE MAY BE ABLE TO DISCERN IN THESE LAST DAYS. The Bible holds a great promise that where iniquity abounds, grace abounds much more. A great Revival is coming, and as you can expect, those rooted in religion will not recognize it for what it is for they find comfort in their system which they have set up. We must have truth AND righteousness.