What Voice is heard in Your Tent?

The LORD is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation. The voice of rejoicing and salvation Is in the tents of the righteous; The right hand of the LORD does valiantly. The right hand of the LORD is exalted; The right hand of the LORD does valiantly. I shall not die, but live, And declare the works of the LORD. The LORD has chastened me severely, But He has not given me over to death. Open to me the gates of righteousness; I will go through them, And I will praise the LORD. This is the gate of the LORD, Through which the righteous shall enter. I will praise You, For You have answered me, And have become my salvation. The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone. This was the LORD's doing; It is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day the LORD has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it. Save now, I pray, O LORD; O LORD, I pray, send now prosperity. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD! We have blessed you from the house of the LORD. God is the LORD, And He has given us light; Bind the sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar. You are my God, and I will praise You; You are my God, I will exalt You. Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.
(Psa 118:14-29)

May the voice of rejoicing and salvation be heard in our tents this Lord's day, and may you rejoice and be glad in this glorious day that the Lord has made.

Yours in Him,

Pastor B.

Put on the Garmin of Praise for the Spirit of Heaviness

I was doing some shopping yesterday and happened to purchase a Garmin brand GPS device for my wife. (I had ordered one for her last Christmas but it never arrived, and eventually we discovered that the system had somehow canceled the order.) Well, I finally got around to getting one for her. But I digress. I was going to share with you how when I got to the counter I began singing, "Put on the Garmin of praise for the spirit of heaviness". The folks behind the counter gave me weird looks. I said, you know like the worship song, "Put on the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness." Still blank looks. Neither the two ladies or the guy obviously recognized the song, and two of the three didn't crack a smile. I took the opportunity to witness a little bit, and thought to myself, maybe I should have stopped by and bought oil at the Discount Auto place. The second line to the song is "let the oil of gladness flow down".

Worship provides great opportunities to witness. Brian Barnett and I were in the Florida Hospital elevator with a few of its medical staff on Thursday and I sang that Ron Konoly song, "We're going up, going up to those high places, to tear that devil's kingdom down." I couldn't get the staff to get in the groove with the song, but truth be told, Brian didn't seem to want to get in the groove either on that one.

Good news is that Brian and I had the opportunity to anoint Joe Wlasiuk (la-sook), and old friend in the Lord (Lynn Foss's dad), with our oil from Israel and pray over him for healing. He is in for an aggressive cancer that recently got found. Praise God, I found out yesterday that the hospital has decided to release him several days early, he is handling the chemo okay, and he is in good spirits (after all, he's coming home today!).

Keep praying for brother Joe and I'll keep you posted. In the mean time keep that garment of praise on, and keep that oil of gladness flowing!

Yours in Him,

Pastor B.

Happy Birthday!

My wife, Claudia, has a birthday tomorrow, and so I thought I'd take a few minutes to talk birthdays. (By the way she's the cute blonde girl about to blow out her candles.- Just joking, my love. [Those of you that don't receive the pictures I send won't be seeing this young lady.])

Some of us like birthday celebrations, and enjoy the special attention of friends and family that comes with them once a year (My wife, Claudia, is in this category). Others of us are party poopers, sticks-in-the mud, and various other labels used by the birthday celebrators to describe those of us that for the most part would just as soon not be surrounded by a crowd of crepe paper hanging, balloon tying, candle lighting well wishers when our time of the year comes around. :)

I actually do love having friends and family around when I can take the time to enjoy their company, and don't feel like I have to 'work the crowd'. But as the years have gone by I've gotten more sentimental and much more appreciative of those brothers and sisters in Christ that are there for me through the hard times, and any excuse to be around them is okay by me.

The Bible does address this whole matter of special days in Romans 14 (it was likely dealing with sabbath keeping and holy days in the New Testament church):

One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind. He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks. For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord's.
(Rom 14:5-8)

The important thing for us to ask ourselves on any special occasion is what exactly are we celebrating? Are we simply celebrating life, or are we celebrating life IN CHRIST? When Jesus Christ come through the door, eternal life comes through the door. Now we are no longer celebrating what could be our last time together, but we are celebrating an eternal fellowship that is ours to enjoy in Him FOREVER!

So whatever the occasion, do your best to glofiy Christ in the midst of it. Then there will be plenty to rejoice in for everyone present, as whether we have a particular attraction of affinity for special days, or not, we should all have a particular attraction and affinity for Jesus Christ at work IN US and THROUGH US.

After all, He redeemed us to purify unto Himself, a particular people, zealous of doing His work here on earth (Titus 2:14).

I LOVE JESUS, YES I DO, I LOVE JESUS, HOW ABOUT YOU?

Yours in Him,

Pastor B.

Thanksgiving and Prayer

Thanksgiving and prayer are a spiritual medicine for what ails you.

You can always give thanks, even when you don't feel thankful, and you can always pray, whereever you are. And you don't have to wait each day until dinner time to say 'grace'.

Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. (Psa 100:4)

Worrying?

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. (Php 4:6-7)

Not sure you know what to say to an unbelieving friend or co-worker?

Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving; . . . Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time. Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one. (Col 4:2-6)

Feel like you need to do more to give God glory?

I will praise the name of God with a song, And will magnify Him with thanksgiving.
(Psa 69:30)

Do you know people that need more wisdom from God? Spend more time praying for them, and less time talking about them.

Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him (Eph 1:15-17)

Do you struggle with sinful habits?

Spend less time complaining about authorities, people, and circumstances, and more time giving thanks for those in authority, for the people in your life, and for the blessings that are always there in the midst of your circumstances.

But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints; neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. (Eph 5:3-4)

How often should we pray? How often should we give thanks?

pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. (1Th 5:17-19)

May you be blessed with a 'holy addiction' to thanksgiving and prayer.

Yours in Him,

Pastor B.

What's Been on Your Lips Lately?

Did you hear the latest about Bob? And did I tell you what Susie was doing? Can you believe it?

Some people call them juicy tidbits. Just enough to whet your apetite. I don't even know if they are still around, but years ago there were many soap operas on daytime television. People loved to tune in just to see what everyone was up to, and often it was up to no good.

My intent is not to get into the human psyche to determine why there seems to be an insatiable apetite for juicy stuff about people, but let's face it, there's something that draws us in to a good story. Sitting around the camp fire telling tall tales is one thing, but sitting around gossiping about real people is another.

The Word of God is cyrstal clear on this matter:

Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious. -1Pe 2:1-3

Has God been gracious to you? Be gracious to others. Has God acted towards you with good intentions? Act with good intention toward others. Has God been honest and up front with you? Be honest and up front with others. Has God been a person of integrity? Be a person of integrity. Envy and evil speaking are not characteristics of God, and neither should they be characteristic of us.

You shall not go about as a talebearer among your people; nor shall you take a stand against the life of your neighbor: I am the LORD. 'You shall not hate your brother in your heart. You shall surely rebuke your neighbor, and not bear sin because of him. You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD. - Lev 19:16-18

If you have a problem with your brother or sister in the Lord, take it to them. Do not bear grudges.

For the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers. And above all things have fervent love for one another, for "LOVE WILL COVER A MULTITUDE OF SINS." - 1Pe 4:7-8

I've been trying to be a lot more serious and watchful in my morning prayers, and funny thing, I'm finding the Holy Spirit speaking to me more and more about my obligation to have fervent love toward my brothers and sisters in Christ. Let's not let our hearts be hardened to the point that it takes a terminal disease for someone to receive our compassion.

Yours in Him,

Pastor B.

Are you wretched?

What does wretched look like? As I browsed through many sketches and pictures of people that were poor and homeless, I realized that most of them had one thing in common- the ability to help themselves in some way. Then it hit me. Wretchedness in its worst condition is not only being in extreme distress, but not being able to do anything about it. I then found this photo of a young child in a poverty stricken community.

Wretched is being "in a deplorable state of distress".

The apostle Paul talked of this wretched state we find ourselves in as sinners in Romans 7, where he writes, "But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin. (Rom 7:23-25)

We, apart from Christ, are indeed sinners, and wretched sinners at that! Me thinks there are too many comfortable sinners out there. I'm a sinner, but I am wealthy, and have need of nothing. I'm a sinner, but I must admit, I'm doing pretty well for myself.

And then there is that judgment upon the lukewarm Laodecians in Revelation 3:17, "

Because you say, 'I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing'—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked— I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.
(Rev 3:17-19)

Are you truly wretched?

"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

For those that are neither tired, nor poor, there is no need to seek that place of rest, that promised land.

For those that are not wretched, for those that are not homeless, there is no need of a new home.

For those that are not tossed about life's storms, there is no need of a shelter and place of refuge.

Thank God, that for those that are tired and poor, for those that are wretched and homeless, for those that are tossed about by life's storms, there is a place of rest and a place of refuge. In the arms of Jesus Christ.

Yours in Him,

Pastor B.

P.S. I'm praying for you

Are you living on the edge?

Some Christians give no meaning to the word living on the edge. When Christ told us to build our house on the rock (see Matthew 7:24-25), He wasn't talking about building it out on the edge, and the propping the ends up with stilts!

Yet when we allow our own wants and ways to take the place of God's wants and ways we are propping our house up on stilts overlooking the depths of the abyss.

Why would a Christ follower do such a thing? Allow his or her wants and ways to take the place of God's wants and ways? We should give this some thought before jumping up too quickly in judgment, as it is something that can take us by surprise in little and subtle ways if we are not careful.

Many times we do not start out to build our house so far out from the edge of the rock, but we allow a gradual slide to take place as so many people and things compete for our attention and as we are challenged on every side about what it really means to be a Christ follower.

God calls us to be radical for Jesus, as anything less than that is mediocre or lukewarm, and God says in Revelation 3:16 that lukewarmness makes Him sick to His stomach (actually, it literallysays that God will spew us out of His mouth if we stay lukewarm).

If you are not growing in Christ, you are in a gradual slide mode, and without even knowing it, your house is edging away from the solid foundation of the rock and is more and more relying on wood stilts to prop it up and keep everything from tumbling down.

Wood, hay, and stumble will not withstand the refining fire and judgment of God, and God wants us to build our house solidly on the rock for good reason. As Jesus said, "and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not; for it was founded on the rock." (Mt. 7;25) Rain will come. Floods will come. Storm winds will come, and will beat on our house. The question is not whether disasters will come and threaten our house, but whether our house will withstand the disasters that come.

Yours in Him,

Pastor B.

I prayed for each of you this morning

In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory. In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory. Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers:
(Eph 1:11-16)

I made a commitment last night to a few of my Christian brothers to rise up early and take the time to do some serious praying at the outset of each day.

As I prepare to sit quietly before the Lord and listen to what He has to share with me, I thought I should take the time to pray for each of you on my blog list by name.

Thank you for your faith in Christ, and commitment to serve Him. Rest assured that this morning you and yours were prayed for. I lifted each of you up by name before our Heavenly Father and asked Him to do a mighty work in you.

who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory. Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
(Eph 1:14-23)

Yours in Him,

Pastor B.

Yours in Him,

Pastor B.

Is Your Church a Spiritual Hospital?

Let's face it. Many people out there, including many that are part of the body of Christ, are hurting emotionally, mentally, or spiritually. Some have withdrawn from the church, and others attend sporatically. Still others are active in their churches, but quietly suffer through. And then there are those that are quick to let you know that they are hurting. But my question of the day is, "Is your church a spiritual hospital where people are ministered to and nursed back to health?" The old saying that people just need to pick themselves up by their boot straps, and move on fails to take into account the seriousness of what ails so many people within the church of Jesus Christ.

I'm not trying to make excuses for poor habits and poor behavior. But I am saying that we need to be compassionate, and come along side of people to lend them a helping hand spiritually. People don't need self-help programs as much as they need God-help programs. And people don't need God-help programs as much as they need a personal relationship with God. And the Bible tells us that it is our sin that comes between us and our God. We're not helping people by avoiding them, but we're also not helping people by avoiding speaking the Word of God into their lives. For example, many aspects of anger and worry are sin, and 1 Peter 5 COMMANDS us to cast our cares upon Him, for He cares for us.

So are you part of God's hospital staff at your local church?

Yours in Him,
Pastor B.

What kind of seat do you want?

So if God's Great Commission team was down on the field, which seat in the stadium would you want, or be willing to pay for? The cheapest tickets are generally in what people call the 'nosebleed' section. With few exceptions, the closer you get to the 'action' the costlier the seats. Diehard fans desire to be close to the action. But is that what you are, a diehard fan?

We seem to have a lot of fans in our churches these days, but shouldn't the true Christ followers be down on the field? Does God call us to pick the best seats in the house and be fans, or does God call us to join His team? You may be willing to pitch in some extra money to be seated closer to the action, but are you willing to make the sacrifices necessary to play on God's team?

Somehow, I don't read the Bible as saying that God is looking to fill His stadium with cheering fans, or looking for people to start "I love Jesus" fan clubs in their communities.

What I read is that Christ was tortured and crucified to redeem a special people, zealous of SERVING the Lord (Titus 2:14).

There are hosts of Christian people and organizations out there calling on you to give financial help for the work of the Lord. But first and foremost, God is calling on you to give YOU!

Are you sitting in the stadium cheering God's team on, or have you joined God's team and taken the field to accomplish the great commission?

Yours in Him,
Pastor B.

God LIKES to show us hidden things

Did you know that God LIKES to "show" you things that have been hidden in times past?

God likes to reveal mysteries, i.e., things heretofore unknown.

This is where His prophets come in. God's prophets bring forth His truth and openly declare it in hopes that we, God's people, will see ourselves for who we are apart from God, will repent, and will walk in His ways, ways of mercy and grace.

Many times God's prophets foretell judgment that's coming. Many times God's prophets declare things with mysterious word pictures that are not always obvious as to their full meaning. I have often told people that prophecy IS NOT PRERECORDED HISTORY in the sense that it reads like a history book, with a clear sequence and unfolding of events.

Often things the prophets spoke about in ages past do not come into full focus until later down the pike as the old saying goes.

Tonight we talk of two mysterious ladies of prophecy in Revelation; the great harlot, and the bride of the Lamb. If you want to take a look at Revelation a little later you might look at the few times God uses the word "show".

The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants—things which must shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John, . . . 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 1:1, 4:1)

I will show you the judgment of the great harlot (Rev. 17:1) and I will show you the bride, the Lamb's wife (Rev. 21:9).

And the Lord God of the holy prophets sent His angel to show His servants the things which must shortly take place. "Behold, I am coming quickly! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.“
(Rev 22:6)

No wonder Christians throughout the ages have taken an interest in these two ladies of prophecy. Any connection to the two women in Galatians 4?

Yours in Him,

Pastor B.

Baptized into Moses

Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, (1Co 10:1-2)

The people were immersed into Moses, that is, put under him by putting their trust in him for their salvation- i.e., deliverance from the penalty and power of the Egyptians. The people were enveloped, in the cloud and the sea.

Today we are immersed into Christ, that is, put under Him by putting our trust in Him for our salvation- i.e., deliverance from the penalty and power of sin. The people are immersed in the Spirit and the water.

The symbolism is beautiful, and ultimately testifies of the burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom 6:3-11)

If you do not know the joy of total surrender through public confession of Christ in the waters of baptism, I invite you to join us for our 10:00 a.m. service next Sunday here at Calvary Chapel Space Coast, in which we will be performing water baptism in our front parking lot during the service. Bring a dark T-shirt, modest shorts or bathing trunks, and a towel, and come confess your Lord in the waters!

It is always an honor to immerse fellow believers that are willing to publicly confess our Lord in the water.

You can call me at 638-4464 if you have any questions. Come celebrate the risen Lord and the work of the Holy Spirit that raises us up in Christ as we repent from our sin.

Yours in Christ,

Pastor B.

We and the Word of God walked for Jesus

Thank you for your prayers! Some of you must have prayed up a storm for our Jesus walk today. People's hearts and minds were receptive. We gave out dozens of tracts and dozens of Bibles. We verbally presented the gospel to many, prayed with many, and were just overwhelmed by our positive reception in the neighborhoods we entered.

The Spirit has prompted us to return to the same neighborhoods in a few weeks. We already have a few additional people that want to go with us next time.

Tonight during our evangelism outreach training at the church facility we covered a lot of ground, and I am so proud of some of our youth that are excited about their faith. I hope that all of you that read this blog are growing in the Lord and sharing your faith. If not, I encourage you to get plugged into a group that is witnessing regularly and training up Christians in how to share their faith under the leadership of the Holy Spirit. The power is not in a given method, but in the power of the Spirit.


So he answered and said to me: "This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: 'Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,' Says the LORD of hosts.
(Zec 4:6)

Yours in Him,
Pastor B.

Please Pray for Our Jesus Walk Tomorrow

Tomorrow is our Jesus Walk in Titusville, and we would appreciate your prayers. One of the ladies in our church (Angelique Brumm) has a vision of Christians not just dwelling together in unity- "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! [Psalm 133:1]), but taking our praises and witness to the streets in unity. She has asked us to meet at the corner of Garden St. and Park Ave. at 9:30 a.m. We will walk down Park to Barna, and down Barna. If you want to do the whole walk it will be two miles ending at I think the old Goodings on Harrison. But whatever part you can do is great. We'll carry tracts and Bibles to distribute, pray with people and witness as we have opportunity, and sing worship songs. Maybe it will just be two or three of us, but we will be there for God's glory.

endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; . . .
for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting,
(Eph 4:3-4, 12-14)

Even if you can't be there, say a prayer for us, and we'll let you know the wondeful work God does!

Yours in Him,
Pastor B.

Who is longsuffering and slow to anger?

We often can just feel our pot of water getting ready to boil as we stew over something and the steam beings to rise.

But the Word of God says that God is not a raging bull. In fact, it says that He is slow to anger, and longsuffering. (I.e., He puts up with a lot.)

The Hebrew phrase, 'arak aph' (ארך אף) is rendered 'longsuffering' or 'slow to anger' in the Old Testament.

And the LORD passed before him and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth,
(Exo 34:6)

'The LORD is longsuffering and abundant in mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression; but He by no means clears the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation.'
(Num 14:18)

They refused to obey, And they were not mindful of Your wonders That You did among them. But they hardened their necks, And in their rebellion They appointed a leader To return to their bondage. But You are God, Ready to pardon, Gracious and merciful, Slow to anger, Abundant in kindness, And did not forsake them.
(Neh 9:17)

But You, O Lord, are a God full of compassion, and gracious, Longsuffering and abundant in mercy and truth.
(Psa 86:15)

The LORD is merciful and gracious, Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy.
(Psa 103:8)

The LORD is gracious and full of compassion, Slow to anger and great in mercy.
(Psa 145:8)

So rend your heart, and not your garments; Return to the LORD your God, For He is gracious and merciful, Slow to anger, and of great kindness; And He relents from doing harm.
(Joe 2:13)

So he prayed to the LORD, and said, "Ah, LORD, was not this what I said when I was still in my country? Therefore I fled previously to Tarshish; for I know that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, One who relents from doing harm.
(Jon 4:2)

The LORD is slow to anger and great in power, And will not at all acquit the wicked. The LORD has His way In the whirlwind and in the storm, And the clouds are the dust of His feet.
(Nah 1:3)

Praise God that He abounds in mercy and is slow to anger.
May we extend His grace and mercy to others as enjoy the blessing of having received His grace and mercy through the Father's will, the Son's sacrifice, and the Spirit's work.

Yours in Him,
Pastor B.

The challenges of golfing and the Christian life

The word 'golf' or 'gouf' is a Scottish word first mentioned in 1457 in a Scottish statute on forbidden games. (Don't worry 'fut-bol' was also forbidden.) [Apparently 'gouf' is derived from the middle Dutch word for stick or club.]

Golfing, like living the Christian life, is very frustrating for the novice, and I'm sure that watching a novice at golf is very entertaining for the experienced player. The novice is determined to do things right, but things just don't seem to work out. What I am I doing wrong?

You're not standing far enough from the ball. You're holding your club too tight. You're lifting your head up when you swing. You're turning your body. Wait a minute, you're swaying. Keep your arm straight. Keep your feet still. Bend your knees. And here's the killer piece of advice that's always added to all of the other suggestions- Relax! Are they kidding?

Some of you may already know where I'm going with this, but now on to the Christ follower that is having constant difficulties in his or her life. What are you doing wrong?

You're not praying enough. You're worrying too much. You're not studying your Bible enough. You're not asking the Lord to speak to you when you read the Bible. You're not thanking God in all circumstances. You're not serving Him. You're not witnessing. And oh, did I forget to tell you- Relax! (After all, Christ did say that His yoke is easy and His burden is light.)

Now the novice golfer and novice Christ follower both have a choice to make. Find someone that is not a novice, be willing to let that person speak into your life, and determine that by God's grace you're going to get better and better at it - OR - decide to keep playing and try to hide the fact that you're a novice (doesn't work in golf, but can be gotten away with to some degree in the church)- OR - hoist the white flag, through in the white towel, and quit working at it.

Did someone mention 'work'? The reality of many things in this earthly life is, "No pain, no gain", and that most things worth while do take a lot of work.

A word to the Christ followers out there- You need to face up to your areas of weakness, You need to learn, practice, and stick to the basic fundamentals of God's Word, you need to consistently and persistently work at your areas of weakness, and you need to let others speak into your life. Otherwise, you might just end up another one of those many people out there that read the right magazines, buy the right gear, go to the right places, talk the right talk, but don't even have the basics down. (As the old saying goes, some people have twenty years experience, but some people just have one year experience twenty times.)

You can get the basics down, my friend. But it takes work, and it takes a daily commitment to your Lord and to His Word.

Yours in Him,

Pastor B.

Little Known Prophecies

Who ever said "X marks the spot"? A lot of people are familiar with the mark on the forehead in Revelation, and the great whore in Revelation, but surprisingly few are aware of the Old Testament prophecies related to these two topics.

The prophet Ezekiel, along with the prophets Jeremiah and Zechariah, was a priest as well as a prophet. At the age of 30, when a priest would normally begin his ministry Ezekiel received his prophetic call from the Lord (about 593 B.C.). He spent his life in Babylon, and prophesied of the destruction of Jerusalem.

Interestingly enough, he 'saw' a remnant of Israelites getting a mark on their forehead prior to God's judgment on Jerusalem and the land (Ezekiel 9:1-11). Those bringing God's destruction upon Jerusalem and the land were instructed not to touch those with the mark on their forehead. Sounds like Revelation 7:3?

And what about the great whore or harlot of Revelation? The prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel all prophesied of the great harlot almost three thousand years ago. She is clearly identified in passages such as Is. 1:21, Jer. 2:20, and Ezekiel 16:35.

Christ warned of her judgment in Mt. 23:35-39, and Luke 21:20-28! And Revelation mirrors these prophecies of Christ (see Rev. 18:24 and verse 4).

Revelation 11:8 says this great city is where our Lord was crucified, and it is true that our Lord was crucified in Jerusalem. Yet the great harlot is called "Mystery Babylon". In Isaiah 14:4 and 12 we see that Lucifer is the King of Babylon. hmmmmmmm.

All is not always as it seems in this world, and the book of Revelation gives hints at just how mysterious the forces of darkness on this planet can be as they use earthly kingdoms to war against the saints of God. But their efforts are ultimately futile because the Lamb of God is also the Lion of Judah, and He will vanquish all foes! Praise the Lord, the victory is won.

Yours in Him,
Pastor B.

Hummingbird or Hawkmoth?

Do you think this is a hummingbird or a moth? Believe it or not, there is a moth that actually flies around like a hummingbird, and even acts like a hummingbird, but is actually a moth. It's called the Hummingbird Hawkmoth.

Did you know that you can fly around like a Christ-follower, and even act like a Christ-follower, and yet not really be a Christ-follower?

You could look at video clips of the hummingbird moth and still not be sure what exactly makes it a moth, as opposed to a hummingbird. In fact, through observation you'd probably make some guesses that were incorrect. The only way to determine the defining characteristics of a hummingbird is to study it and learn the facts. Then you can observe based on these truths and have a good shot at spotting the true hummingbird.

In the same way, the only way to determine the defining characteristics of a Christ-follower is to study the Bible and learn the facts. Then you can observe based on these truths and have a good shot at spotting the true Christ-follower.

We're living in a day and age where the lines between truth and fiction, true and false, real and fake, are being increasingly blurred, and it is increasingly important for us to know how to discern the work of the Holy Spirit from the work of other forces.

We are all God's creatures, but we aren't all hummingbirds.

Yours in Him,

Pastor B.

How beautiful are your feet?

How beautiful are your feet? Do you know a Bible verse that talks about beautiful feet? Well, tonight we will be meeting at our church facility at 6:00 p.m. to discuss a topic that we find in Romans chapter 10.

How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher [proclaimer]? And how shall they preach [proclaim] unless they are sent? As it is written: "HOW BEAUTIFUL ARE THE FEET OF THOSE WHO PREACH THE GOSPEL OF PEACE, WHO BRING GLAD TIDINGS OF GOOD THINGS!" (Rom 10:14-15)

God has called us to proclaim Christ. We can give testimonies about God without sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with people, and we can be witnesses for God without sharing Jesus Christ with people. We must keep in mind, however, that people are not going to be able to respond to the gospel if they do not hear it from someone. So how do we actually go about sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with the people we come in contact with?

There are many good 'tools' out there (Romans Road, Evangelism Explosion, Way of the Master), but there are some Biblical Basics that are important, regardless of which tools you prefer. So pray for me as I embark upon the challenge of providing people the Biblical Basics of personal evangelism, and pray especially that all of us (including those reading this) get more excited about sharing our faith consistently and creatively, and that we would learn how to work together to better share that old fashioned gospel. All of us don't have a gifting of evangelism, but all of us have giftings that when used together can better reach the lost world in which we live.

Yours in Him,

Pastor B.

"You say Rightly that I am a king"

When Jesus stood before Pilate, and Pilate asked Him if He was a king, He said, "You say rightly that I am a king." That's probably one of the understatements of all time.

Jesus Christ is the Ruler over the Kings of the Earth!

"and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood"- (Rev 1:5)

The prophet Daniel put it this way,
"All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; He does according to His will in the army of heaven And among the inhabitants of the earth. No one can restrain His hand Or say to Him, "What have You done?" (Dan 4:35)

The apostle John and the prophet Daniel knew what they were talking about. (John was the beloved disciple [see John 13:23, 19:26, 20:2, 21:7, 21:20], and Daniel was one of the three great men of faith identified by the prophet Ezekiel [Ezekiel 14:14, 20]).

They had a realtionship with the Lord that was up close and personal, and they had every confidence that the Lord reigns over the kings of the earth. What this means is that our president, our congress, our supreme court, and even the powers of Iran answer to a higher power, the Lord Jesus Christ.

(Did you know that Jerusalem, Moscow and Tehran are all cities that sit on seven hills? Interesting in the light of Revelation 17:9- we'll be talking on this next Tuesday night at my house as we discuss Revelation 6:30 p.m. at 5260 Curtis Blvd.- you're invited, but call me at 638-4464 or drop me an e-mail to let me know you're coming.)

Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here." Pilate therefore said to Him, "Are You a king then?" Jesus answered, "You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice."
(Joh 18:36-37)

Praise God that we have heard His voice. As we seek to obey His voice, take heart that He has overcome the world!

Yours in Him,

Pastor B.

Serve Where?

When your country needs you to serve, are you willing to serve where you're needed? When your church needs you to serve are you willing to serve where you're needed?

I ran into a guy yesterday that plays several musical instruments. He likes playing music for the Lord, and asked if our church could use him. I told him, "Absolutely!". We can always use musicians that want to play for the glory of the Lord. The difficulty sometimes is that some Christians only want to serve in what they feel are the prime locations.

It's like a potential enlisted man telling his recruiter that he's willing to serve his country, but only if they are willing to station him in Hawaii. What ever happened to, "I'll go where I'm most needed?" Some companies have what is called 'hardship pay' when employees are willing to take work assignments in out-of-the-way places (such as Fort Greely, Alaska). It's extra pay on top of their regular salary. Maybe the Lord has a 'hardship pay' rewards program for those that serve in difficult ministries. But the bottom line is that we should be willing to use our gifts and serve where we are needed.

And who knows, some of the greatest blessings are found in unexpected places.

Yours in Him,
Pastor B.

Revelation of Jesus and John the apostle

IMPORTANT MEMO

INTRO Rev. 1:1-3, 1:4-20
DATE: 68 A.D.
FROM: the apostle John and Jesus Christ (delivered by Christ’s messenger)
[The messenger was a fellow servant and prophet- See Rev.22:9]
TO: the seven churches
BE IT KNOWN: Christ came the first time as the Lamb of God to redeem us by His blood, and He is coming the second time as the Lion of Judah with clouds. Every eye and those that pierced Him shall see Him, and all kindreds of the earth shall wail

SUBJECT: To Show the servants of God the things which must shortly take place

Revelation begins with this subject (Revelation 1:1), and ends with this subject (Rev 22:6).

Revelation (ἀποκάλυψις- apokaloopsis)- stripping outward stuff away to reveal something previously unknown, manifestation

The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants—things which must shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel* to His servant John, who bore witness to the word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, to all things that he saw. Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near.
(Rev 1:1-3)

Rev. 1:7 says all “tribes” will wail [φυλή (foo-lay)- tribes], and this is a prophecy concerning the tribes of Israel from Zechariah 12:10-14 where the same Greek word is used:

"And I will pour upon the...inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son...In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem...And the land shall mourn, every family [φυλή] apart; the family of the house of David apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives apart; The family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart; the family of Shimei apart, and their wives apart; All the families that remain, every family apart, and their wives apart." (Zechariah 12:10-12)


I. The things that are
(Rev. 2:1-3:22)

There is persecution of the servants of God by earthly Jerusalem in the 30s-60s that was destined to be judged by God [Rev. 2:9, 3:9, Mt. 24:35-39, Gal.4:25, 29, 1 Thes. 2:14-16)

BE IT KNOWN: Behold, I come quickly (3:11)

II. The things that are shortly to come

Rev. 4-22

(Revelation 1:1, 22:6)

Well, that's what we covered at my place tonight. We're finishing the rest of the book next Tuesday night at 6:30 p.m. All are welcome (5260 Curtis Blvd. in PSJ).

[Who ever heard of doing the whole book of Revelation in two nights?]

Yours in Him,

Pastor B.

Are you Experiencing a Connectivity Problem?

Have you ever gotten that frustrating message, "Your computer is experiencing a connectivity problem?" And have you ever tried several things in an attempt to get on line and still received that message? Have you ever felt that way about your communication with God?

Sometimes you pray and just don't feel like God is hearing you or speaking to you. Sometimes you're sure there must be some sort of connectivity problem. Don't you wish there was some sort of spiritual software program that you could run on your computer that would detect the connectivity problem?

Then when your prayer doesn't seem to be answered you could run the software program on your computer. It would run a check to detect if there is a connection between you and God.

Possible messages might be:

"There appears to be a problem at the source. Please do an unconfessed sin inventory."

"The connection appears to be working fine, and the answer is currently being downloaded. Please be patient. Note: This could take longer than expected as His time is not our time."

"There appears to be interference on the line. Please fast and pray until the forces that appear to be interfering are eradicated."

I'm sure you could come up with many on your own. Many of you get discouraged at times with your spiritual life, much like many get discouraged with the seemingly endless difficulties in getting their computer to run right. Keep in mind that there is a Help Desk that runs 24/7 for God's children, and though the manual may seem in confusing in places, God promises that He will miraculously supply us with the answers we need.

Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen. (1Pe 5:6-11)

Yours in Him,

Pastor B.

Sowing Classes?

This is the field in which we have been asked to sow the seed of the Word of God. You are all welcome to come tonight at 6:00 to our church facility where there will be a two hour video teaching by Chuck Missler on the book of Revelation, OR you can come to my place in Port St. John the next two Tuesday nights at 6:30 where I will be teaching on the book of Revelation.

The time is at hand. Just how much time do we have left? Starting next Saturday night at 6:00 p.m. I will be holding "Sowing Classes"- sessions on how to share the gospel of Christ with those you come in contact with. I will not be teaching a methodology, but a way of life.

Do we have to be persecuted in order for us to get motivated to share the gospel?

As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison. Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word. (Act 8:3-4)

I hope not, and I don't think so.

But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."
(Act 1:8)

There is power, power, wonder working power, in the blood of the Lamb.

Yours in Him,

Pastor B.

Translations and Transmutations

For those of you that are avid students of the Word of God, I thought I'd take a minute today and warn you that many Bible translations out there in the market place do a lot more than just 'translate' the Hebrew Old Testament and Greek New Testament into English. They acutally ADD WORDS, SUBTRACT WORDS, and CHANGE WORDS when it suits them. I call this transmuting, not translating.

Now, don't get me wrong. All of the modern translations do an excellent job of getting across the general message of the Bible, and so I'm not saying they aren't useful for devotional reading.

What I am saying, however, is that those who like to do deeper study of Bible passages should be aware that many modern Bible versions have places where the translators decided to change the substance or form of the Hebrew or Greek text by changing, adding or subtracting words. They may have done this to clear up what they think is the meaning, but in doing so they have transmuted the text rather than translate it.

I'll start with a simple example, using the New King James Translation (which does an excellent job of accurately reflecting the Greek text in most cases) for comparison:

"Now we exhort you, brethren, warn those who are unruly" (1Th 5:14- NKJV)

This seems pretty clear, doesn't it? Now look at what one modern translation put:

"And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle" (1 Th 5:14- NIV)

Do you see the transmutation that has occured in this scripture? The word 'unruly' now reads 'idle', which is someone's interpretation of what the writer was saying. But the Greek word for 'idle' is not in the Greek New Testament. The Greek text has the word for 'unruly'.

Now I'll show you an even more glaring example of how 'bad' it can get. Let's look at Galatians 2:19, where the apostle Paul talks of becoming dead to the law, or Torah, of God.

For I through the law died to the law that I might live to God. (Gal 2:19- NKJV)

Look what one modern translation did to this verse:

For it was through letting the Torah [law] speak for itself that I died to its traditional legalistic misinterpretation, so that I might live in direct relationship with God.- (Gal. 2:19- CJB)

The original Greek phrase 'died to the law' has been changed to 'died to its traditional legalistic misinterpretation'! Where did all those extra words come from? Not from the Greek text of the scripture, I assure you. This is not a translation of the Greek text, but a blatant transmutation of the text in order to get the reader to interpret the text a certain way.

Now I'm not picking on any particular translation. I'm just giving serious Bible students out there a heads up that all translations are not created equal, and that some have taken the liberty to do a lot more than just translate the Hebrew and Greek text into modern English.

Nuff said.

Yours in Him,
Pastor B.

νόμος (no-mos)