HE'S COMING VERY SOON!

Joel 2:15-16
15 Blow a trumpet in Zion,
Consecrate a fast, proclaim a solemn assembly,
16 Gather the people, sanctify the congregation,
Assemble the elders,
Gather the children and the nursing infants.
Let the bridegroom come out of his room
And the bride out of her bridal chamber. NASU
** Get ready for the wedding!!!! He is coming soon and we are preparing ourselves as a bride to meet Him in the air. Oh how I long for Him to split the sky and in the twinkling of the eye we all will be changed and we will be with Him forever! There are so many signs showing that He is coming soon. Even so “come quickly Lord Jesus.” I’ve heard it my whole life and I’ve talked about it my whole life but I’ve never been so confident in His return by what I see around us as I do right now. I feel like the angel has the horn to his lips and his eyes are on the father waiting for the signal to blow the trumpet!

PAID

1 Tim 5:17-18
The elders who rule well are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching. 18 For the Scripture says, "you shall not muzzle the ox while he is threshing," and " The laborer is worthy of his wages." NASU
** It’s amazing how far we have come in the church today considering paying our pastors and workers. When I was younger and also depending where you are located in the country, people expected pastors to be bi-vocational. That means to have a job outside of the church to meet their financial needs because the church shouldn’t be burdened with the pressure of paying the whole pastors salary. They often wondered why their pastor burned out so quickly and then just ushered in the next poor sap that was ready to move in to the church prison…. I mean parsonage and pastor. Notice that all church parsonages were located right next door to the church so the church could work the pastor and his family 24 hrs a day and they could be available at anytime. OUCH! Even when I worked as a pastor in Alabama, that idea was still swarming around. Now I know a pastor is to be dedicated to the ministry but let me share some things with you from a pastors life. First of all, there is rarely any privacy at all in a pastor’s family’s life. EVERYTHING we do is usually visual or will be visual in one way or another. I can’t buy a car or a house or anything that may show how I spend my money without knowing that someone is thinking something about my decision to buy it. No close friends. There is no way I could share everything that is on my mind with anyone in the church I pastor because they will either try to fix me or would judge me and think different of my ministry position. Ministry is a very lonely place. I do however thank God for a wife that stands beside me as my best friend and also a friend in another town who I can share most everything with. Our pay for most of my ministry life is so below poverty level that I we didn’t go and get an outside the church job, we would not be able to go anywhere or do anything for enjoyment purposes or for relaxation.
OK….. so you know a few things but not because I expect more but because people just need to know. I now pastor a church that has honored me with the freedom to receive a good salary and have some privacy where they are not calling or knocking at my door every minute. Thanks CFC for your honor and faithfulness to me and my family.

HAPPY FATHERS DAY?

A true story from Funnies reader Brad Miller:

One day I was having breakfast with my daughter, who was about 8 years old at the time. I had done what any good dad would do, I fixed her a bowl of cereal. I even poured the milk into the bowl myself.
We were having some great conversation during our mealtime, when my daughter got up from the table with her bowl. When I asked her what she was doing, she told me that she was going to throw her "cereal milk" away.

Now having been well educated on how cereals are sprayed with vitamins and also how that vitamin spray often gets "washed off" of the cereal, I cautioned her about her pending blunder. I said, "Kati, I can't believe that you're going to throw your cereal milk away. That's my favorite part." She had a pondering look on her face for a moment, then proceeded to drink most of the milk. 'Mission accomplished,' I thought to myself. 'I really am an amazing dad!'

Fast forward a few weeks to Father's Day morning. As we sat down to eat breakfast as a family, I could tell something was up. Everyone was obviously in on this grand Father's Day surprise but me. I didn't mind because I knew that whatever surprise was awaiting me, it would be amazing. After about 10 minutes of giggles and some secret language that everyone understood except me, a pint-sized plastic bottle was placed on the table in front of me. I stopped eating a very delicious breakfast to see if I could solve this little mystery that had everyone so giddy.

As I picked up the container, I spun it around to see if there was a label or a note… nothing. So finally I asked, "What is it?". Kati said, "Dad, it's your favorite!"

Hmm, I thought to myself. What is my "favorite"?

Finally stumped, I asked her, "Kati, what is my favorite?"

She said, "Dad, you told me that cereal milk was your favorite so I've been saving mine for you all week and mom helped me put it in this bottle!"

In disbelief, I looked at my wife. She grinned and nodded in confirmation.

Not quite sure how to handle this situation, I paused to consider my options. Then did what I knew I must do. I picked it up, unscrewed the lid and took a good long drink.

Of course I told Kati that this was the BEST cereal milk I had ever enjoyed and a Fathers Day I would not soon forget. Then she made me promise to enjoy ALL of it later.

And, of course, I did.

Now that she's 14 years old, we have laughed about that day many, many times!

MUSIC = PRESENCE

2 Kings 3:13-15
14 Elisha said, " As the LORD of hosts lives, before whom I stand, were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would not look at you nor see you. 15 "But now bring me a minstrel." And it came about, when the minstrel played, that the hand of the LORD came upon him.
NASU
** This is a clear picture of how important worship and music go with the presence of God. Elisha was faced with giving a word of God to the kings and the first thing he does is call for a musical instrument so the music can usher in the presence of God. Worship is so vital and important to our churches when we gather because it too will usher in the presence of God so we can hear from Him. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve just been sitting there on a Sunday morning and when a certain song comes and the congregation begins to sing it and the presence of the Lord moves right into the sanctuary. I mean you can physically feel Him move in. sometimes we will worship long and other times it will be short, but our goal is to get ourselves prepared to hear from God thru His word the bible. Worship is also very important to our daily lives too. If we fill our lives with music that ushers in the presence of God not only will we experience His presence everyday, we also won’t have to wait until Sunday to experience His presence.

CAN'T WE ALL JUST GET ALONG?

2 Chron 18:12-13
Then the messenger who went to summon Micaiah spoke to him saying, "Behold, the words of the prophets are uniformly favorable to the king. So please let your word be like one of them and speak favorably." 13 But Micaiah said, "As the LORD lives, what my God says, that I will speak." NASU
** Can’t we all just get along? The answer? NO! not as long as there is good and evil in the world. This world is spinning out of control and the evil is saying to the good “can’t you just agree with our sin and our evil doings and we all just get along?” In these last days I’ve seen church after church give in to filthy beliefs and give in to worldly thinking all in the name of unity and peace. We forget that Jesus said:
Matt 10:34-36
34 "Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword . 35 For I have come to turn "'a man against his father, a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—
36 a man's enemies will be the members of his own household.' NIV
Yep, you guessed it….. Jesus would be the first one on the rebellious leader list if He were here today. Just note that EVERYTHING that has Jesus’ name stamped on it in this world is condemned and cast out in this worlds view. I pray that His return takes place soon, but if it doesn’t….. get ready for we are in for a VERY VERY bumpy ride! I don’t know about you, but I just can’t stand by and agree with the evil of this world and stand one day and look my savior in the face and say I was faithful…. Can you?

MIND SET

Col 3:2
2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. NIV
** Ok, here is the great secret of life….. Setting your mind! And it comes with a choice, on things above or earthly things. Each choice has a consequence. So here is the illustration. I’m at work and just minding my own business and in walks my boss and just rips me and chews me out and then walks away. Where is my mind now? Above or below? Well I know that it’s easy to say below and what I can do to get back at my boss, but really where is my mind? I can let this be a learning and increase time in my life or I can let this be a degrading and demoralizing time. I HAVE A CHOICE! The question is, “What will I choose?” Heavenly minded or earthly minded? Earthly minded people will let this confrontation tear them apart and it will ruin the rest of the day and they will become bitter and begin to think of a way to change jobs because they deserve much better than this. Heavenly minded people stop and take a breath and then look up at their heavenly father and respond in a heavenly minded way. “Father, I don’t know what is going on with my boss, but as long as you have put me here I will honor him and work here as if I am working for you. I pray for him right now that whatever is going on to cause this uncalled for venting that he will have seen my life before you and see that I could have the answer to what he is going thru right now. I choose to grow thru this and in all of it I pray that I will bring glory to you, Amen.

BLAMELESS

Phil 2:14-15
14 Do all things without grumbling or disputing; 15 so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, NASU
** Here Paul clearly states that we are to show ourselves to be blameless and innocent. How? By not arguing or grumbling. Everyday we are faced with troubles and turmoil and our reaction to these things shows if we have issues with the troubles. Let me explain. When I preach on tithing, there are always those who will leave the service and grumble or dispute about the message because they don’t believe in tithing or are bothered that I would speak on the subject. Those who don’t have a problem with tithing, don’t grumble or dispute it. So to be blameless and innocent would be to receive the word of instruction and trust God’s word and tithe. Now here comes the kicker…. What is it that makes you grumble or dispute? Is your cause against it justifiable by the word of God? Weigh everything by the word of God and then be innocent and blameless by obeying the word.

KEEP STANDING

Eph 6:13-14
having done everything, to stand firm. 14 Stand firm therefore NASU
** I wonder when Paul wrote this if he ever wondered how powerful and popular this phrase would become among Christians and churches for generations to come? This is an amazing scripture. Once you’re standing….. stand. Once you’ve done EVERYTHING to stand and you’ve got nothing else to do to help you to stand….. stand. But not only stand after you’ve done everything but stand FIRM. When I think about this standing firm, I think about those guards at the Buckingham palace that no matter what you do in front of them, they just keep standing. Nothing around them distracts them or causes them to move. We too need to be like them when we are standing on the Word of God. Often times I’ve been believing God for something in my life whether healing or something else, and I’ve prayed, been anointed, memorized scripture, kept the word before my eyes, prayed some more, been prayed for….. and it seems like nothing is happening and nothing seems to be coming thru for an answer…… but I must just keep standing after I’ve done everything I know that I was suppose to do to stand… I stand. If you are reading this and you seem to be at a dead end street, I want to encourage you. God has not abandoned you. Nor has He forgotten you. In the depths of your soul and as deep as you can reach down, I say unto you KEEP STANDING!

MIND OVER MATTER?

Ps 94:19
19 When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought joy to my soul. NIV
**Oh how hard it is to walk each day when your head is full of anxiety and worry. I find it hard to do the things that I’m suppose to be doing when I’m overwhelmed with all the doubt and fears that constantly fill my brain throughout the day. How does one keep their right mindedness in the midst of turmoil? The scripture is very clear… “He will keep you in perfect peace WHO’S MIND IS STAYED ON HIM.” Also “casting all your care (or anxiety) on Him for He cares for you.” Seems so easy right? Not so much! There is always several battles that go on in the midst of warfare. The devil is our number one enemy and he constantly attacks us at our weakest points. He will watch us and see where we fall regularly and then wait for an all out attack to get us to get weary, tired and worn out to the point that we don’t have the strength to fight back or the will power to fight back. Our flesh is our second enemy sometimes I think that it does more damage than the devil. When we sin or when things don’t seem like they are going right, we can be our biggest critics and turn against ourselves in a matter of moments and tear ourselves apart. So…. How do we keep our minds stayed on Him? Constantly keeping His words before us. You feel sick? What does His word say? You feel lonely? What does His word say? Feeling despair? What does His word say? Thoughts of death and disease? What does His word say? If you can get your mind off of the trouble or symptoms and on to God’s great word then half the battle is won. Stand strong and be firm with your flesh and with the devil and ….. KEEP YOUR MIND STAYED ON HIM!

HE'S UNDER MY FEET

Rom 16:19-20
19 For the report of your obedience has reached to all; therefore I am rejoicing over you, but I want you to be wise in what is good and innocent in what is evil. 20 The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. NASU
** THE GOD OF PEACE WILL SOON CRUSH SATAN UNDERNEATH YOUR FEET!!!! Awesome!!! Anytime there is turmoil and chaos you know that satan is lingering nearby. If your life is full of confusion and trouble and there is no peace, step back and examine where you’re going. You may need someone who will be honest with you that will tell you the truth about things you need to change in your life either thru getting rid of sin or doing too much stuff that it blocks out peace. So the words, “be wise in what is good and innocent in what is evil” is your guideline. Then “the God of peace will soon crush satan underneath your feet.”

LOST TREASURES

Prov 25:14
14 Like clouds and wind without rain is a man who boasts of gifts he does not give. NIV
** It’s one thing to be blessed with gifts from God and another thing to not use them to bless those around you with those gifts. This person here in verse 14 isn’t just bragging about something he doesn’t have but he actually has gifts that could change the world and he chooses not to use them to help. The other notice is that he brags about what he does have so others know that his gifts could change the world but he doesn’t use them. I’ve seen a lot of people who had great gifts in their lives and just sit back and watch everyone else do the work. I just preached about this a couple of weeks ago when I said one of the richest places on the face of the earth is the grave yard. Many many great unused gifts were buried with the people because they never used them or gave them away when they were alive…. Sad for them and sad for us… Give your gifts away so peoples lives can be changed.

HOW SMALL IS YOUR STRENGTH?

Prov 24:10
10 If you falter in times of trouble, how small is your strength! NIV
** Trouble is the tester for our strength. How much trouble can a person handle before they falter? I’ve met a lot of people who are so concerned about failing and yet if you don’t fail, how can you gauge your life and what do you have to go on to measure your maturity? I wonder where we would be if all the great inventors just stopped after they messed up trying to invent something (like Thomas Edison with the light bulb). Over and over again they kept plugging away until the vision they had in their mind came to pass. We too have a vision of what God wants to do in us and thru us. How much trouble will it take for you to quit? How small is your strength? Will you quit or will you use this falter to add to your strength and get back up and press on?