Where is your hiding place?

Discouraged? Depressed? Stressed? Hurt? Angry? Frustrated? Fearful? Overwhelmed?
We all sometimes just want to get away, or better yet want to crawl into a hole.
The apostle Paul knew what these emotions were like, and talked of one point in his ministry where he said of his mission team, "we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life:" 2 Cor. 1:8

We all experience discouragement, depression, stress, hurt, anger, and fear. The question is where do we go and to whom do we turn in our times of trouble? To drugs? to alcohol? To our work? To our luxuries? To our dreams?

God's children, like all humans, have struggled with these things from the beginning, but they know the one place where there is lasting peace, and the one person that can truly help us and heal us.

You [are] my hiding place; You shall preserve me from trouble; You shall surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah - Psalm 32:7
You [are] my hiding place and my shield; I hope in Your word. Psalm 119:114
The LORD [is] their strength, And He [is] the saving refuge of His anointed. - Psalm 28:8
But I will sing of Your power; Yes, I will sing aloud of Your mercy in the morning; For You have been my defense And refuge in the day of my trouble. - Psalm 59:16
In God [is] my salvation and my glory; The rock of my strength, [And] my refuge, [is] in God. - Psalm 62:7
Trust in Him at all times, you people; Pour out your heart before Him; God [is] a refuge for us. Selah - Psalm 62:8
Be my strong refuge, To which I may resort continually; You have given the commandment to save me, For You [are] my rock and my fortress. - Psalm 71:3
He shall cover you with His feathers, And under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth [shall be your] shield and buckler. - Psalm 91:4
But my eyes [are] upon You, O GOD the Lord; In You I take refuge; Do not leave my soul destitute. - Psalm 141:8

Thank you, Heavenly Father. Thank you, Lord Jesus. Thank you, Holy Spirit.
Yours in Him,
Pastor B.

Are You Ready to Catch the Wave?

Are you ready should a wave of persectution suddenly, without warning, hit?
Are you ready should a wave of the Spirit suddenly, without warning, hit?
Are you in spiritual shape so that you have the spiritual 'skill', 'practice', 'knowledge', 'strength', and 'equipment'? (e.g., your spiritual surfboard?)
Or, would you get pulled under in the midst of the rushing wave?

Jesus taught that we need to be prepared and to be ready. Being ready isn't having a 'can do' state of mind, but of being in a state of fellowship with the Lord and His body (i.e., church family). I can have a 'can do' attitude toward being able to run a mile in five minutes, but the truth is, my attitude won't get me very far, should I suddenly have to be able to accomplish it.

I'm sure that this is why the apostles pressed us to exercise ourselves in godliness, and fellowship with the body of Christ.

1 John 1 tells us that if we have fellowship with one another the blood of Christ cleanses us from all of our sin. I believe this is because fellowship with the body of Christ provides accountability to His Word, and accountability drives us to confession and verse 9 says if we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

It's an exciting journey with the Lord and His family, and though the road is fraught with suffering and sorrow, there is also much joy and blessing as we partake of Christ, dwell in Christ, and live out and witness the power of His resurrection in our lives through the work of the Holy Spirit!

Wagons, Ho!
Yours in Him,
Pastor B.

Don't Accept Things that to you are Unacceptable

Sometimes we allow what others think to override our conscience, and that isn't good. The Word of God warns us not to do that. In the days of the early church there were disagreements about which foods Christians should be eating. In discussing this topic, Paul says in Romans 14:22-23,

Do you have faith? Have [it] to yourself before God. Happy [is] he who does not condemn himself in what he approves.
But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because [he does] not [eat] from faith; for whatever [is] not from faith is sin.

We must not allow ourselves as Christians to be drawn into things other Christains do if our conscience tells us we shouldn't. It is sin for us to violate our conscience. Every other Christian you know may think something is okay to do, but if your conscience tells you it isn't, then it isn't - for you.

Each of us shall give account to God for our choices (Romans 14:12), and we shouldn't get caught up in judging the decisions others make (Romans 14:4).

All of us are required to obey Christ's commandments, but the many decisions we must make in our daily lives require each of us to do our best to follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit in how to apply Christ's commandments to the many choices we are faced with.

The Holy Spirit will do His job to teach and enlighten us (1 Corinthians 2:13-14) and we need to do our job to not harden hearts, to listen, and to follow.

The Christian life is challenging for all of us, and we need to hold each other up in prayer,
Yours in Him,
Pastor B.

Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His Saints

The death of a loved one brings great sorrow to those of us left behind, but the death of a child of God takes them where their heavenly family is, and that is a place of great joy, where suffering is over.

weeping may endure for a night, but joy [cometh] in the morning.
Psalm 30:5
Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His Saints
. . . thou hast loosed my bonds.
I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the LORD.
Psalm 116:15-17

I am so thankful the Lord brought Jade Mangini, Sally's son, into our lives, and am so thankful we had the opportunity to share the glorious gospel of Christ with him, pray with him, and watch him take joy last Christmas season in his son Aiden's role in the Christmas story play at church.

Our Calvary Chapel Space Coast family had to say good-bye to Tina, brother Mike, and Bobbi last year, and here we are saying good-bye to Jade. We will miss him. We will have a memorial service this Saturday at 2:00 p.m. at the church.

Be praying for Sally and Aiden and their family,
Yours in Christ,
Pastor B.

As a Little Child

Baby Andrew Page attended our Sunday night service last night with his mom, Betsy, and his dad, Steve! He seemed so content and happy, and once in a while began talking (baby talk, of course) which I think made mom and dad a little nervous since brother Richard was up front teaching on God's patience. I leaned over and told Betsy not to worry about Andrew not being perfectly quiet, as every happy sound was a reminder of much answered prayer, and the goodness of God.

The word of God tells that in the mouths of little ones praise is perfected. I'm not sure I understand all that Jesus meant in that passage, but apparently the Pharisees were angry with the little children worshipping Jesus as the Messiah, and Jesus said to them, "Yes. Have you never read, 'Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have perfected praise'?"

(This is a quote from Psalm 8:2. We just covered the Psalms and Proverbs last week in home group study. The Psalms are sooooooooo awesome. - this week we will be covering Daniel).

Jesus often pointed to the little ones as examples for us. In Matthew 18 Jesus said,

"Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven."

Give this some thought and let me know what you think.
Yours in Him,
Pastor B.

A Righteous Response

Claudia and I recently attended a Calvary Chapel Pastor's Conference with several from our church family. Several pastors took turns teaching through the upper room passage of the scripture in John. For me, one of the most compelling moments was when we were called to righteousness; and more specifically, called to respond righteously, even in the midst of being betrayed. wow. Jesus called Judas 'friend' to the end, and never rose up against him in words or deeds, in spite of knowing what he was about to do. A true friend of God will be a friend to others, and will respond righteously to the worst offense. (Funny thing, Claudia told me this morning that "I am a friend of God" is in the worship line up for this Sunday!)
Respond Righteously,
Pastor B.

We Need a Covering to Enter In

Tim Board and I zipped home from the Calvary Chapel pastors' conference yesterday, and went down to pray over Sally Taylor's son, Jade (Jade is in critical care at Holmes Regional), and then to Cape Canaveral Hospital to pray over Ty Carter's father, Eddie (Eddie is also in critical care). In both cases we had to don those plastic blue smocks and latex gloves prior to 'entering in'. Regardless of whether we felt we were dirty, or not, the covering was required. In much the same way, because of our dirty sinfulness, we cannot enter the presence of God without a covering. You may not feel dirty or sinful, but the fact is that he that says he has no sin is a liar, and the truth is not in him (1 John). Praise God that Christ is our covering, that His shed blood satisfied the demands of a clean and holy God, and that He provides us a white robe of righteousness through faith so that we can enter in to commune with our heavenly Father. Thank you, Lord.

Do We Really Want to See the Dirt?

I can still remember when Claudia picked out the tile she wanted when we decided to tile our house. She picked out an 18 X 18 white tile. When one contractor came to the house to give us a bid on installation he tried to talk Claudia out of going with the white tile. "It will show up all the dirt", he insisted. "You should choose a darker tile that would make the dirt less visible." He didn't seem to understand that Claudia's top priority wasn't to make the dirt less visible, but to have beautiful clean white floors.

So which is your priority with respect to your Christian life? Is it to have a beautiful clean life before God, or is it to cover or hide your sin? Are you more interested in covering up and hiding the dirt on your floors, or you are more interested in having clean white floors before God?

Christ loved the church and gave Himself for her that He might present her to Himself, a glorious church, holy, without spot, and without blemish. Ephesians 5:25-27

Yours in Christ,
Pastor B.

Worshipping in the Morning

One of the most beautiful things in my home in the morning is the sound of praises that fill the air when my wife gets up in the morning. Claudia has a beautiful soothing voice and she loves to sing to the Lord. I believe that every time we sing a song of praise we are singing a new song if it's coming from a heart of gratitude and praise. The reason is that even if the melody and words are an old familiar worship song, there are new thoughts and emotions behind it.

[Through] the Lord's mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions do not fail.
[They are] new every morning; Great [is] Your faithfulness.
Lamentations 3:22-23

My wife, Claudia, and I know about the mercies of the Lord because we have experienced His tender compassion and forgiveness over and over again. Indeed God's mercies are new every morning, and our songs to Him are new every morning.

Oh, sing to the LORD a new song! For He has done marvelous things; - Psalm 98:1

And they sang a new song, saying: "You are worthy to take the scroll, And to open its seals; For You were slain, And have redeemed us to God by Your blood Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation- Rev. 5:9

Tomorrow is communion Sunday, and we will priase Him anew for redeeming us to God by His blood. Sing Him a new song from your heart to Him each and every day, even if it's that one old favorite that best expresses your love for Him.

Your fellow worshipper,
Pastor B.

Friday, January 2nd

The article below was written early this morning. Hope it encourages you to keep on.

God Gives You His Grace Through Your Church Family Members

(No matter what the site says I posted this at 1:57 a.m. January 2nd! :))

God's Word tells us to build Christ-centered relationships with our church family members. To not do so is to miss out on the opportunity to bless others in a personal way, and to, in turn, be so blessed.

People that have rich relationships with God and His people are rich in God's love, joy, and peace. They are in a constant state of rejoicing and thanksgiving for God's goodness. It is an awesome feeling to be loved, especially when you feel or know that you don't deserve it. And it is an unbelievably awesome feeling to love others, regardless of what they've done or not done for you. Do you have a church family? Have you gone out of your way to get to know some of them lately? Have you purposely done some acts of kindness this past week for some of them?

2 Corinthians 4:15 says that grace (unmerited kindness) abounds through the many, causing us to overflow with thanksgiving. And this in turn, gives glory to God as His children praise Him in the hard times as well as the good. God designed you to be part of a church family that loves on each other (even on those that may not seem to deserve your kindness), and that blesses the Lord at all times.Don't lose heart. Even though times may be rough, your inner self can be renewed every day. Every day gives you opportunity to thank God for His goodness, and to be a blessing to others. 2 Cor.4:16-18 tells us that God is at work in us, and around us, in many ways that cannot be seen, and we will receive our own blessings in due time.

So remember that kindness and love are only in short supply when God's people aren't busy giving it out!

All by His grace, all for His glory,
Pastor B.

Are you going to be more tied down this year?

Believe it or not, two of my favorite things during the Christmas season is my wife's company and my wife's cooking. Claudia and I spend more time together during the holiday season than normal, and she does a lot more baking. In a way, you could say I am more tied down during the holidays since there is so much to do at home and since I spend more time at home than usual. But being 'tied down' is a wonderful thing when you are tied to people and things that you love. I'm not very good around the house, but I have learned through the years to trust that Claudia appreciates my feeble efforts to be a help, and is glad that we're together.

Sometimes I think this is a lot like our relationship with God, or at least a lot like what it should be. Two of our favorite things should be God's company, and enjoying His work in our lives and in those around us. Yes, having a close relationship with the Lord will mean spending more time together, and getting used to the fact that we may not be very good at what we know He wants us to do. But we must trust that He appreciates our feeble efforts, and that He is just glad you're together.

When we live with and serve the Lord there is a sweet fragrance in our life, and it is a sweet fragrance that the Lord Himself can smell!

And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma. Ephesians 5:2.

Indeed I have all and abound. I am full, having received from Epaphroditus the things [sent] from you, a sweet-smelling aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing to God. Phil.4:18.

Those of you that are part of the Calvary Chapel Space Coast family here me talk about God always having something good cooking in the kitchen. Let's not forget that the best way to show our appreciation for who He is, and what He has done, is to make the effort to 'stay around the house' and do what we can, whether we think we're good at it, or not.

Here's to an awesome 2009 together!
All by His grace, all for His glory,
Pastor B.