Sunday, September 13, 2015

 

“I am the Lord, and there is no other, besides me there is no God.”   Isaiah 45:5a

Good morning and welcome to our church! We are here because God deserves our worship!

Luke 18:10 says, “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.” No, this isn’t the beginning of some ancient Hebrew joke. It’s the beginning of an illustration in one of Jesus’ messages, and it’s an instruction on how we should approach God today in worship. If you’re familiar with the story, you know that the Pharisee brazenly stood before God and thanked God for how great he (the Pharisee) was. What he didn’t realize was that he was a sinner, and did not deserve to even pray to God. The Pharisee was worshipping himself when he should have been worshipping God.

Meanwhile, the tax collector stood at a distance, would not dare to look up toward God, but beat his chest while crying out to God for mercy because of his sins. When it’s all said and done, Jesus said that the tax collector did receive mercy. He saw himself clearly, cried out to God, and was saved.

Kyle Idleman writes in a devotion on overcoming problems:

“You want to know what to do? …

-Stand at a distance.

-Beat your chest.

-Pray this: ‘God, have mercy on me.’

-Mean it.

I’m going to go out on a limb and say that last one is the key. It happens when you humble yourself.”
 

Let us come before God in humility today, seeing ourselves clearly for who we are, and being confident of His grace!

Your brother,

 Aaron Meredith

 

 

 

 

SUNDAY – SEPTEMBER 6, 2015

“Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; according to the multitude of Your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.” Psalm 51:1, 2

 

Last Sunday morning, I shared the story of A. W. Tozer beating the weeds beside ponds to cause the green frogs to jump in. Mr. Tozer went on to use that experience as a description of what he hoped to do in ministry. He said that he wanted to “beat the weeds” in order to encourage people to “make the big plunge, not into a pond, but into the wide ocean of God’s grace.” In the middle of this past week, I read the following from Mr. Tozer about God’s grace.

 

     “I firmly believe that many saints are in heaven that the self-righteous members of the Ladies Aid Society would never have voted into membership.

     “’Not that woman! Never! She’s a bad example.’

     “The assessment is probably true, at least on the outside. I am grateful that entrance into heaven is not based on somebody voting me in. I do not particularly like self-righteous people. And I do not believe God is pleased with them. What I am grateful for is that they are not in charge of heaven’s membership roll.

     “Never would they have accepted into their membership Mary, of New Testament fame, that had seven demons.

     “Let me testify and say that the lowest woman that ever wallowed her way through the vices of the honky-tonks, the grace of God operates to save her, and the blood of Jesus Christ washes her. She is as pure as the purest virgin and as clean as the holiest woman that ever walked.

     “Goodness cannot get you into heaven, but if you will trust the grace of God, badness cannot keep you out. Put away your discouragement. Rise up and shine for the light of God’s grace has fallen upon thee.”

 

Saved by God’s grace,

Pastor Doug

 

 

 

 

SUNDAY – AUGUST 30, 2015

“Remember, O Lord, Your tender mercies and Your lovingkindnesses, for they are from old. Do not remember the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions; according to Your mercy remember me, for Your goodness’ sake, O Lord.” Psalm 25:6, 7

 

I presume that the worst of all diagnoses would be the one for which there is no treatment or remedy. The reality is that we must first know and understand the “disease” before we can seek its cure. With God, all His diagnoses include a cure. There is nothing too difficult for Him, and His grace is more than sufficient to heal all of our hurts. I want to write here what I read during worship last Sunday. Mr. Tozer surely had a gift for communicating “deep truth.”

 

    “In meditating upon the grace of God, I find it to be incomprehensibly delightful and an overwhelming plenitude of goodness and kindness on the part of God.

     “If every mosquito in all the swamplands of the world was a sinner, and all the stars in the heavens were sinners, and all the grains of sand on the seashores of the seven oceans were sinners, the grace of God could swallow them all up. I stand on the Word, which says where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. I believe that, my brethren.

     “Some president of some seminary defined me as a ‘legalistic sanctificationist.’ I know what the terms mean; I just don’t know what that man meant by using them for me. Let me just clear the air and say this: basically, philosophically, theologically, practically and experientially, I am a believer in the grace of God.

     “How could a man as vile and as wicked as me ever hope to have help apart from the grace of God?

     “Here is the difference. Sin can be measured. That is, there is a beginning and an end to sin. Grace, on the other hand, is limitless, boundless and infinite. My sin, in no way, depletes God’s amazing grace.”

 

There is grace, God’s amazing grace, which can forgive every sin and heal everything that’s broken in our lives! Hallelujah!

Pastor Doug

 

 

 

 

SUNDAY – AUGUST 23, 2015

“Restore us, O God of our salvation, and cause Your anger toward us to cease. Will You be angry with us forever? Will you prolong Your anger to all generations? Will You not revive us again, that Your people may rejoice in You? Show us Your mercy, Lord, and grant us Your salvation.” Psalm 85:4-7

 

We are planning and beginning preparations for our “Thirst” Conference in October. We are asking God to do the work of “revival” in our congregation and our community. A vital part of the work of preparation is concentrated prayer. E. M. Bounds is one of the most prolific writers on the subject of prayer that ever lived. The following comes from his book, “Prayer & Spiritual Warfare,” on pages 71 and 72. Please read it carefully.

 

     “The office of prayer is to change the character and conduct of men. … It is the major work of the church to take hold of evil men and make them good. Its mission is to change human nature and character, influence behavior, and revolutionize conduct. The church is presumed to be righteous and should be engaged in turning men to righteousness.

     “The church is God’s factory on earth. Its primary duty is to create and foster righteous character. This is its very first business. Its primary work is not to acquire members or amass numbers. Its aim is not to get money or engage in deeds of charity and works of mercy. Its work is to produce righteousness of character and purity of the outward life.

     “A product reflects and partakes of the character of the manufacturer that makes it. A righteous church with a righteous purpose makes righteous men. Prayer produces cleanliness of heart and purity of life. It can produce nothing else. Unrighteous conduct is born in prayerlessness. The two go hand in hand. Prayer and sinning cannot keep company with each other. One or the other must, of necessity, stop. Get men to pray, and they will quit sinning, because prayer creates a distaste for sinning. It works so much upon the heart that evildoing becomes repugnant. It lifts the entire nature to a reverent contemplation of high and holy things.”

 

Join us as we pray for revival!

Pastor Doug

 

 

 

 SUNDAY – AUGUST 16, 2015

   “I will praise You, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing to You among the nations. For Your mercy reaches unto the heavens, and Your truth unto the clouds. Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let Your glory be above all the earth.” Psalm 57:9-11

 

Be assured that worship is not something that we should approach casually. Worship is a serious matter that we must give attention to. True worship doesn’t just happen by chance. True worship occurs where God’s people intentionally “seek” the Lord and “offer” sacrifices and praise that are acceptable to God. Jesus answered the woman at the well, “The hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.” (John 4:23)

 

Mr. A. W. Tozer did a series of sermons entitled “The Chief end of Man,” in which he shared the following:

     “You cannot worship just as you please. This is one of the tricks of the devil and a very favorite pet of unconverted poets and unconverted people with a bump of sublimity (i.e. the state of being inspired to awe) on their head but without the new birth. They teach that we just worship God any way we want to worship God and all will be well. Authentic religious experience is altogether possible apart from redemption. It’s entirely possible to have authentic religious experience and not be a Christian and not be converted and be on your way to eternal hell. You remember that Cain had an experience- an authentic religious experience. He talked to God and God talked to him. It is possible to have an experience with God and yet not have a saving experience with God. It is possible to worship and yet not worship aright.”

 

Tozer goes on to tell an essential part of true worship: “Worship has to be in the Spirit. The notion that just anybody can worship is all wrong. The notion that we can worship without the Spirit is all wrong. The notion that we can crowd the Spirit into a corner and ignore Him, quench Him, resist Him and yet worship God acceptably is a great heresy which we need to correct. Only the Holy Spirit knows how to worship God acceptably.”

 

Blessed Holy Spirit, guide us into true worship today!

Pastor Doug

 

 

 

 

SUNDAY – AUGUST 9, 2015

“But as for me, I will come into Your house in the multitude of Your mercy; in fear of You I will worship toward Your holy temple.” Psalm 5:7

 

 Why do we gather on Sunday morning and sing, pray and preach? The simple answer is that we come together to worship our God. That really is it. That’s primarily why we are here. In a sermon entitled The Act and Object of Worship, Mr. A. W. Tozer said:

     “The object of worship, of course, is God. The Nicene Creed says that we worship ‘one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.’ That is who we worship. If we could set forth all God’s attributes and tell all that God is we would fall on our knees, undoubtedly, in adoring worship. It says in the Bible that He ‘dwells in light unapproachable whom no man can see or has seen or can see and live’ (I Timothy 6:16, Exodus 33:20, author’s paraphrase). It says that God is holy, eternal, omniscient, omnipotent and sovereign and that He has a thousand sovereign attributes. And all these should humble us and bring us down. I cannot accept with any sympathy the idea that we go to church to soothe ourselves and calm our spirits. We do calm our spirits and there is a soothing effect in worship, but the primary object of church attendance is not to relax- it is to offer worship, which belongs to God.”

 

A few decades ago, one of the popular “worship choruses” was Magnify the Lord. The repeated verse was “Let’s forget about ourselves, and magnify the Lord, and worship Him.” Some of the words were changed from verse to verse, but every verse always included “and magnify the Lord and worship Him.” The chorus was a call to the true object of worship, to direct our whole attention toward God rather than toward any people, including ourselves.

 

Let’s make every effort to learn how to offer the kind of worship that will be pleasing to our God. Let’s pray and seek His help that every act, every offering, and every word will be acceptable to Him. We want Him to be exalted and glorified in the midst of our congregation.

 

His worshiper,

Pastor Doug

 

 

 

 

Sunday, July 28, 2015

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.   Romans 12:1

            We are coming together today to worship our great God!

            But as we come and sing songs of worship, let us examine our lives to see if we are “living sacrifices” and if we are acting in a way that is bringing glory and worship to God.

            We have been studying about the life of Richard Wurmbrand in the Senior High Sunday School. He was a pastor in Romania who suffered persecution in jail for years because of his commitment to Jesus. He later became the founder of Voice of the Martyrs.

            Prior to his arrest the communists held a Congregation of the Cults, where they brought pastors together to have them publicly announce that they were supporting the Communist Party. No pastors were standing up in support of Christ. So, Richard’s wife, Sabina, looked at him and said, “Richard, stand up and wash away this shame from the face of Christ.” He proceeded to stand up and denounced the Communist Party and stated his commitment to Jesus. Soon after, he was arrested.

            It caused me to pause and think, “Is my life bringing glory or shame to my Savior?” Soon after in devotions, I read about how the prophet Nathan rebuked David for his sin with Bathsheba. In 2 Samuel 12:14 he tells David, “By this deed you have utterly scorned the Lord.”

            People are watching us, and not only people, but also angels and demons. When they see the way we live our lives, is God glorified or is He shamed? Even in times when no other humans are around, are demons reeling from the right choices we make or are they laughing and mocking our God because of what we do and think?

            God, make us a people worthy of bearing Your Name on this earth!

 

Your brother,

 Aaron Meredith

 

 

 

 

SUNDAY – JULY 19, 2015

“How lovely is Your tabernacle, O Lord of hosts! My soul longs, yes, even faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God….Blessed are those who dwell in Your house; they will still be praising You.” Psalm 84:1-2, 4

 

My desire, my goal and my prayer is that individuals will experience God in their lives, and they will enjoy the richness of His grace for the rest of their lives. I know that A. W. Tozer lived and ministered with that same passion. I say, “Amen, amen and amen” to the following from his writings.

     “The average Christian thinks that because he has heard a truth he now owns that truth. Spirituality is not like education. In education you read the textbooks, memorize a few facts and you have mastered the subject.

     “Not so with spirituality.

     “Only the Holy Spirit can give you illumination that will make the words you hear become a part of your spiritual nature. The Holy Spirit wants to open up our hearts so that the truth becomes part of us.

     “Things often stand in the way of the illuminating work of the Holy Spirit. It will be different things for different Christians. Clearing out spiritual debris is an ongoing process, and the tool to use is repentance.

     “We need to begin to repent of our lack of holiness in the presence of the Holy; repent of our self-indulgence in the presence of the selfless Christ; repent of our harshness in the presence of the kind and forgiving Christ. We must repent of our lukewarm attitude in the presence of the zealous Christ burning like a fiery flame.

     “The Holy Spirit will guide each of us in the area where we need to do our repentance.”

 

The only thing that He requires of us to listen, receive, and act on (obey) what He says! This is the way to revival!

Pastor Doug

 

 

 

 

SUNDAY – JULY 12, 2015

“For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness. For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord will give grace and glory; no good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly. O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man who trusts in You!” Psalm 84:10-12

 

The first principle of the Kingdom is humility. A “broken spirit and a contrite heart” God will never turn away because they are most precious in His sight. Every believer must humble herself or himself before the Lord and always maintain that humility in order to keep from “being puffed up” and be overcome by pride. God has declared that He resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.

 

In “holiness circles,” this humility is expressed in a concept known as “dying to self.” Samuel Brengle wrote about God working in and through us, but warned of keeping the right attitude.

     “If honor comes, thank God and lay it at the torn feet of Jesus, and forget it, lest it ruin you. ‘Love is not puffed up.’ If honor comes not- if men seem to forget you in the distributions of rewards and honors and promotions, still thank God and go on. Still seek the honor which comes from God only, the honor of walking in the footsteps of Jesus, of loving, of serving, of sacrificing, of suffering for others, and you shall have your reward. You surely shall, and it will be great, exceeding abundantly above all you ‘ask or think.’ The crowning joy is yet to come. The final and all-sufficient and unfading rewards will be given by the Master’s own hand. ‘Fret not,’ if you fail of some lesser reward, lest through your fretting you fail of  the honor which cometh from God only, and miss the crown Christ keeps in store for you. Oh, beware of fretting over rewards and promotions and honors which man can give! It is a snare set for you by the enemy of your soul. Take your eyes off people and see Jesus only. If others are good and spiritual and devoted to the Lord, emulate them, follow them as they follow Christ; but if they are faulty, fret not your soul because of them (Psalm 37:1-5), but pray for them, and remember the word of Jesus to Peter: ‘What is that to thee? Follow thou me.’”

 

Let’s keep our eyes on Jesus!

Pastor Doug

 

 

 

 

SUNDAY – JULY 5, 2015

“When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people, if My people will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”   II Chronicles 7:13-14

 

It is apparent to many of us in this fellowship that “we” need revival. The future of our nation needs the positive impact of a great spiritual revival. Most of us in this fellowship want revival. Some of us have been praying and are preparing for a time to seek God specifically for revival. (Mark your calendars for October 11 through 14, 2015.) Many of our leaders have been challenged by A. W. Tozer by reading a daily devotion. Following is the reading for July 2.

     “What we need today more than anything is revival. A revival, among other things, is a sudden manifestation of God’s presence. It is not the coming of the sun, but the sun breaking through the clouds. Although the sun may be hidden, it is still there until it breaks through the clouds.

     “A revival is not God coming to us; rather, it is God breaking through obstacles hindering us from experiencing Him. The biggest thing hindering us from experiencing such a move of God is our selfishness. We want God to do something in someone’s life, but we do not plan to make any changes in our own life. We are happy with the way we are, even though we are not experiencing the presence of God deep within our hearts.

     “If we are to have fellowship with God and communion with Him, we need to be like Him, as Jesus is. The selfishness that grips our heart, the self-indulgence that rules our life, need to be repented of and confessed to God as sin. Once this spiritual debris is cleansed from our hearts, the sun of God’s presence will break through and shine deep within our hearts.”
 

Shine on us again, precious Lord!

Pastor Doug

 

 

 

 

SUNDAY – JUNE 28, 2015

“My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and give praise….I will praise You, O Lord, among the people; I will sing to You among the nations. For Your mercy reaches unto the heavens, and Your truth unto the clouds. Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let You glory be above all the earth.” Psalm 57:7, 9-11

There are many exciting and beautiful vistas that God produced when He created the world. It seems that He keeps right on giving blessing after blessing. James declared that “every good and perfect gift’ has been given to us by God for our enjoyment. Of course that doesn’t mean that we need to spend our lifetime trying to see, touch or taste every one of those gifts that God has placed on the earth. In fact, often God will ask us not to enjoy certain things that might actually not be harmful to us in and of themselves. We must be careful not to become distracted by all the “good” that surrounds us, and we must rather seek the “best” that God places before us all.

What is the highest good, the best pursuit for us as we live on this earth? It certainly must be the very thing that is most on God’s heart. That is and always has been a “family” for Himself to live with eternally. From the beginning until the very end, God’s work is to redeem a group of people and draw them into personal fellowship with Himself. There was only one Son in heaven and He was sent to join in the work of rescuing from sin and damnation those individuals that will be God’s eternal family.

In plain words, Jesus was sent as a missionary to rescue lost souls. This remains the ultimate goal of all that God is doing in this world. This is the “best” thing that you and I can become involved in. All other “good” work pales in comparison to the driving passion of God’s heart to save the lost in this dying world. May God continually remind us to stay focused on His plan and passion. May He help us not to be distracted by all the “benefits” that He showers on this world.

Sharing the passion of God,

Pastor Doug

 

 

 

 

Father’s Day

JUNE 21, 2015

“Remember the Law of Moses, my servant, which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.” (Malachi 4:4-6)

The Bible teaches us that one of the foundations of a “blessed nation” is a strong and godly home. When the home is in order, then the nation will be in order. When the home is in disorder, then the nation will be in disorder and under a direct curse from God. (Just read the last words of the last prophet of the Old Testament, Malachi. See above.) Paul wrote to Timothy to warn him about “perilous times” that would come “in the last days.” He gave a rather extensive list of bad personal and social behavior that included selfishness, greed, brutality, treason, and a number of other negative actions that do not promote a healthy society. In the list, Paul also mentioned “disobedience to parents.” It might be argued that all bad social behavior begins with bad behavior in the home.

Many of us have been talking about and praying for revival. It would be a moving of God’s Spirit to restore righteousness in our land and return the blessing of Heaven to our “one nation under God.” According to Malachi’s prophecy, a move of God, especially in the last days, would also restore proper order and respect in family life. Actually the indication is that God will first do the work of revival in our homes which will in turn prevent His curse on our land. We must pray for such a revival as this! We must seek God’s power to transform our marriages into the model of His relationship with the Church just as Ephesians contains the description. We must seek God’s Spirit in our homes to create citadels of peace and safety.  We must seek God to impact our children’s minds with the power of His living Word, the Bible. We must pray and seek for our children to be transformed by the power of the Gospel.

Remember that there is a vast difference between a household of Christians and a genuinely Christian household. Everyone in our homes could be saved, but that does not automatically produce a Christian family. It is necessary to order and direct our family life according to the Bible. We must actually obey our Lord in our attitudes and actions in order to create Christian families. Let’s seek a revival that will produce sold-out, passionate Jesus-loving, Holy Spirit-filled fathers, mothers, sons and daughters!

Pastor Doug

 

 

 

 

SUNDAY – JUNE 14, 2015

“For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness. For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord will give grace and glory; no good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly. O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man who trusts in You!” (Psalm 84:10-12)

There should be no doubt in our minds about the fact that God wants us to live. He created us with the intent to impart life into our mortal bodies. He sent His Son to redeem us from the curse of death through sin that we might have spiritual life. He offers eternal life to those who receive His Son as their Savior. Remember that Jesus said, “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10) Jesus taught that God wants us to have life, and to have life with a bubble in it. Jesus can impart life and He can also inundate us with life. There is a measure above mere survival and existence.

 

  1. Stanley Jones wrote the following: “This living on an overflow is what is so lacking in the Church of today. A sign could be put up over our individual and collective lives: ‘Life, Ltd.’ And yet Jesus said that the purpose of His coming was to give life ‘more abundantly.’ It is that margin that counts- it measures the difference between muddling through this business of living, and living with abounding energy, abounding peace, abounding power. Some of us are living too close to our margins- we are just getting by. When someone asked the little girl how she came to fall out of bed, she replied: ‘I slept too close to the place I got in.’ Many of us have tumbles because we have very little margin or moral and spiritual power left. A bit of pressure and we are pushed over into defeat. Most of us can go the first mile, but it is the second mile that counts; we can give the coat, but it is the cloak also that measures the victory; we can bear being smitten on one cheek, but it is the turning the other cheek that makes the difference. Someone has said that ‘the victory belong to the one who rots last.’ The man who has the Spirit doesn’t rot at all.”

 

Don’t hesitate to ask God for the fullest measure of life that is available through Jesus Christ and made real by the power of the Holy Spirit. God will fill the seeking soul with life!

Pastor Doug

 

 

 

 

SUNDAY – JUNE 7, 2015

“Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat. Yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen to Me, and eat what is good, and let your soul delight itself in abundance. Incline your ear, and come to Me. Hear, and your soul shall live.” (Isaiah 55:1-3a)

There has been a heart cry of believers throughout the years that has been expressed by many different words and phrases. We have heard in song, “Draw Me Nearer,” “Fill Me Now,” and “Fill My Cup, Lord.” Believers who really want to know the Lord have always sought the “deeper life” testified to by saints of old. Most Christians recognize that we often live below the blessings and privileges offered to all children of God. The Lord has been speaking to my own heart about what more is available to me and my brothers and sisters at Needmore Bible Church. It is my desire to share what the Word of God has to reveal about the “deeper life” during the coming weeks.  A saint who lived in France in the late 1600’s, Madame Jeanne Guyon wrote about the “deeper life” in her classic Experiencing The Depths of Jesus Christ.
The first chapter is entitled “From the Shallows to the Depths and include the following words of exhortation for all of us.
     “As you pick up this book, you may feel that you simply are not one of those people capable of a deep experience with Jesus Christ. Most Christians do not feel that they have been called to a deep, inward relationship to their Lord. But we have all been called to the depths of Christ just as surely as we have been called to salvation.

     “When I speak of this ‘deep, inward relationship to Jesus Christ,’ what do I mean? Actually, it is very simple. It is only the turning and yielding off your heart to the Lord. It is the expression of love within your heart for Him.

     “I give you an invitation: If you are thirsty, come to the living waters. Do not waste your precious time digging wells that have no water in them.  (John 7:37; Jeremiah 2:13)

     “If you are starving and can find nothing to satisfy your hunger, then come. Come and you will be filled.”

God has promised His people throughout all time that He would feed and satisfy them when they come to Him with hungry and seeking hearts! Come!

Pastor Doug

 

 

 

 

 

SUNDAY – MAY 31, 2015

“I will praise You with my whole heart; before the gods I will sing praises to You. I will worship toward Your holy temple, and praise Your name for Your loving kindness and Your truth; for You have magnified Your word above all Your name.”  Psalm 138:1, 2

There is a great division throughout the earth defined by the Lord Jesus Christ. There can no neutral ground concerning the Savior. All people are on one side or the other concerning His identity. Every person will either bow before Him in willing submission while on the earth or experience forced subjugation when He is exalted as King of kings and Lord of lords. While we live in this natural realm, each of us is either for Jesus or against Jesus!

There is another division among all people that is caused by God’s Word. Contrary to the ideas promoted by many theologians, the Bible stands against the philosophy and empty deceit of this world. Each person must choose whether to accept it as God’s truth or reject it as a merely human record of man’s search for meaning and understanding. There are really only two sides. One side is in agreement with the Bible itself and accepts the fact that the Bible is God’s inspired, inerrant, infallible and authoritative Word. The other side sees the Bible as an ancient document that has little to do with our lives today because it is a book riddled with all the possible errors that human frailty could produce.

The writer of Psalm 119 expressed this division over the Word quite clearly. He wrote, “Remove from me reproach and contempt, for I have kept Your testimonies. Princes also sit and speak against me, but Your servant meditates on Your statutes.” (Vv. 22-24) He also wrote, “The proud have me in great derision, yet I do not turn aside from Your law.” (V. 51) Again he expressed the division with the following words: “I hate the double-minded, but I love Your law….Depart from me, you evildoers, for I will keep the commandments of my God!” (Vv. 1133, 115) The Psalmist even admitted his feeling toward teaching that rejects the Bible: “Therefore all Your precepts concerning all things I consider to be right; I hate every false way.” (V. 128)

In the same Psalm, the other side of the division is expressed. “I am a companion of all who fear You, and of those who keep Your precepts.” (V. 63) “Those who fear You will be glad when they see me, because I have hoped in Your Word.” (V. 74)

I pray that you are on Jesus’ side and on the “Bible-side” likewise!

Pastor Doug

 
 
 
 
 

Mother’s Day

SUNDAY – MAY 10, 2015

And he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes. And immediately he and all his family were baptized. Now when he had brought them into his house, he set food before them; and he rejoiced, having believed in God with all his household.   Acts 16:30-34

I believe that families are the primary and most important building blocks of culture. The most important things are taught in the home as children are being raised. To be clear, it is not that every home is teaching the “right things,” but the fact is that children’s characters are being formed by the basic lessons of life they are learning in their homes. Parents should desire above all, that truth is what they are teaching and communicating to their children in their home. Parents should want to echo what Solomon wrote to his son in Proverbs: “Hear, my son, and receive my sayings, and the years of your life will be many. I have taught you in the way of wisdom; I have led you in right paths.” (4:10, 11)
In Psalm 119, David extols the virtue and impact of the Word of God on the lives of those who receive it. In verses 101-104 he wrote, “I have restrained my feet from every evil way, that I may keep Your word. I have not departed from Your judgments, for You Yourself have taught me. How sweet are Your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! Through Your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way.”  The truth is that there are two ways. One way is true and right, and the other way is false. It is just as important to reject the false as it is to accept the true! Think about what David wrote in Psalm 101 about his choices for his house. “I will walk within my house with a perfect heart. I will set nothing wicked before my eyes; I hate the work of those who fall away; it shall not cling to me. A perverse heart shall depart from me; I will not know wickedness.” (Ps. 101:2b – 4)
 
Thank you parents for protecting your children from the false ways that you hate. You are not required to “expose” your children to anything that is not good and godly! You can lead them in “right paths”!
 
Pastor Doug
 
 
 
 
 

SUNDAY – MAY 3, 2015

    

“And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days.”  Joel 2:28, 29

When John the Baptist was “preparing the way” for the Messiah to be received by His people, he promised that the Messiah would “baptize” His people with the Holy Spirit. No one can truly follow the Messiah without the power of the Holy Spirit in his or her life. The record of the early church tells that the people in Samaria “had received the Word of God,” but they needed the Holy Spirit’s power to live as true followers of the Messiah. Peter and John went to them and “prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit.” (See Acts 8:14-17.) You, all who want to follow Jesus Christ, and I need the Holy Spirit. We must depend on His power in us to follow Christ effectively. Consider what E. Stanley Jones wrote about the Holy Spirit in The Way to Power and Poise, page 119. Let’s make this our aim and prayer!
     “Paul could say: ‘Our gospel came to you . . . in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction.’ (I Thess. 1:5.) At the center of that ‘power’ and ‘full conviction’ was the Holy Spirit. That is lacking in much of modern Christianity- it lacks power and it lacks full conviction because it lacks the Holy Spirit. . . The same can be said of a lot of our preaching: it is correct in style; its subject matter is good; its intentions are right, but it lacks one thing- the Holy Spirit. Without that we are preaching unquickened truth- truth that doesn’t fall upon the soul with quickening and converting power. It falls dead upon the soul. Two men say the same thing: one falls upon the hearers with awakening, kindling power; the other falls upon them flat. Our Christianity is not bad- it is just dull. And that is bad, for the gospel is good news- the greatest good news that ever fell upon human ears. We make it into something that is as mechanical as a Buddhist prayer wheel. Hence our people do not have enough conviction to share it. Our faith is noncontagious. The Holy Spirit, when accepted and obeyed, turns all that insipidity into inspiration, that dullness into dancing. He makes one alive– alive to his fingertips. The Holy Spirit is the Strengthener- when He comes we speak strong words, have strong convictions, for we are inwardly strong.”
 

Holy Spirit, You are welcome in this place!

Pastor Doug

 

 

  

SUNDAY – APRIL 26, 2015

“I will extol You, O Lord, for You have lifted me up, and have not let my foes rejoice over me….Sing praise to the Lord, you saints off His, and give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name. For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life; weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.” Psalm 30:1, 4-5

Paul began his letter to the Colossians with a litany of thanksgiving and praise to God the Father, and then gave a doxology of praise for His Son, Jesus Christ. Paul wrote, “And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.” (Colossians 1:18) We must always remember that what “it is all about” for us is the Person of Jesus Christ. E. Stanley Jones in The Way to Power and Poise reminded believers about the centrality of Jesus Christ to our faith.

     “Someone has said: ‘The Church is no candle- blow on.’ That sounds heroic, but it is more heroic than real. The center of our faith is not the Church, for the Church is made up of very human elements and what man has built up other men may destroy. But if the statement is put: ‘Christ is no candle- blow on,’ then I can accept it with all my heart. The only perfect possession we as Christians have is Christ. He is the absolute- all else is relative. When men attempt to make the relative infallible and absolute, they are running into a false assurance. For when a relative thing makes itself an absolute, than that is idolatry. When a church makes itself an absolute then it doesn’t contain idolatry- it is idolatry- it is idolatry by its very nature. The Church behind Christ is the very best serving institution on earth, but the Church in front of Christ, obscuring Him and making itself the issue, is idolatry, pure and simple. In Christ all things hold together- in anything else they go to pieces, go to pieces under the impact of life. ‘Christ is no candle- blow on.’” (Page 205)

It is our great desire and delight to lift up the Name which is above all names, Jesus Christ the Lord!

Pastor Doug

 

 

 

SUNDAY – APRIL 12, 2015

     “Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; my flesh also will rest in hope….You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”    Psalm 16:9, 11

I’ve heard the question, “If there is a loving God, how can there be so much evil and pain in this world?” The existence of evil cannot be denied rationally. Any sane person can perceive that much of what happens cannot be called good and it is not conducive to life. The declaration of Holy Scripture is that evil did not come from God, but it is a result of mankind’s rebellion against God. The Bible also states that God is good, and He is full of love and mercy. Mr. A. W. Tozer believed that God is merciful and wrote about the impact of that mercy on all of our lives. He wrote:

     “All men are recipients of God’s mercy. Do not think for a minute that when you repented and came back from the swine pen to the father’s house is when mercy began to operate. Mercy was operating all the time.

     “If you had not had the mercy of God all the time- stooping in pity, withholding judgment- you would have perished long ago. God holds up His justice because of His mercy. He waits because the Savior died. All of us are recipients of the mercy of God. All the time you were sinning against Him, He was having pity on you, for God is not willing that any should perish.

     “The vilest criminals you can think of and the blackest hearts that lie in the lowest wallow in the city are the recipients of the mercy of God. It does not mean they are saved. It does not mean they will be converted and finally reach heaven. It does mean that God is staying His justice because He is exercising His mercy. God’s mercy does not make us repent; rather God’s mercy paves the way for us to come to the point of repentance.  Not all will come, but all can.”
 

Hallelujah, the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting!

Pastor Doug

 

 

 

EASTER SUNDAY

APRIL 5, 2015

“Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; my flesh also will rest in hope. For You will not leave my soul in Sheol, nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption. You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” Psalm 16:9-11

One of the wonderful attributes of our God is His “tender mercy.” The Scriptures declare that God’s mercies are “great,” “everlasting,” and “ever new.” For many, many decades, the church has been singing a hymn that declares, “Great is thy faithfulness, O God, my Father.” The theme of that hymn is found in Lamentations 3:22 and 23. “Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.” A. W. Tozer has written about the infinite and eternal nature of God’s mercy:

     “The mercy of God will never be any less than it is now, because the infinite cannot cease to be infinite, the perfect cannot admit any imperfection. Nothing that occurs can increase or diminish the mercy of God nor alter the quality of the mercy of God.

     When Jesus died on the cross, the mercy of God did not become any greater, for it was already infinite. We have a mistaken notion that God shows mercy because Jesus died. Jesus died because God is showing mercy. If God had not been merciful, there would not have been an Incarnation, no Baby in the manger, no Man on the cross and no open tomb.

     “It was the mercy of God that gave us Calvary, not Calvary that gave us the mercy of God. God has mercy enough to unfold the whole universe in His heart, and nothing anybody ever did could ever, in any way, diminish the mercy of God.”

We can receive His mercy by simply looking to Him in faith, trusting His promises to answer any individual when he or she calls on His name. We cannot “drain” His supply of mercy toward us! Hallelujah!

Pastor Doug

 

 

 

Hosanna to the Son of David!”  “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!”

“Hosanna in the highest heaven!”

Matthew 21:9b

 

Welcome to our worship service today! Today we celebrate Jesus as the King and Messiah!

            We are also having a special service focusing on praying for our families and children. There is much power in a praying parent and there are a variety of examples of parents praying a prayer of blessing for their children in the Bible. Some are physical parents, such as Isaac and Jacob, and some are spiritual parents, such as Paul the Apostle.

            Here are a few examples of prayers of blessings in the Bible. We’ll be using one in our service today. You can use the others as guides for your prayers this week.

Numbers 6:24-26

“The Lord bless you
and keep you;
25 the Lord make his face shine on you
and be gracious to you;
26

the Lord turn his face toward you
and give you peace.”

Psalm 121:5-6

The Lord watches over you—
the Lord is your shade at your right hand;
6

the sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.

7 The Lord will keep you from all harm—
he will watch over your life;
8

the Lord will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.

 

Ephesians 3:14-21

For this reason I kneel before the Father,

15 from whom every family[a] in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19

and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21

To him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen.
 

Pastor Aaron

 

 

 

SUNDAY – MARCH 22, 2015

“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! …It is like the dew of Hermon, descending upon the mountains of Zion; for there the Lord commanded the blessing- life forevermore.” Psalm 133:1, 3)

There is no real possibility of a “Lone-Ranger” Christian. The Bible clearly teaches us that all believers have a bond between them that is supernatural in its origin and nature. Paul wrote, “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body…and have been made to drink into one Spirit.” (I Corinthians 12:13)  The Holy Spirit makes every believer a “member of the body of Christ” and “members one of another.” (See Ephesians 4:25.) We might not always live in the real experience of that relationship; nevertheless it is a reality because God makes it a reality. Paul wrote to encourage believers to practice caring for each other as members of the same body. Throughout the Bible, the word “discord” is always presented in a negative manner and always carries God’s displeasure on those who foster that discord. God works to make sure there is “no schism” in His body and so should we. (See I Corinthians 12:24-25.) Our faith is most encouraged and strengthened when we walk with those of like-minded faith and are committed to one another in genuine Christian love.

Several of the young men that attended the Ignite conference in Lynchburg said they were encouraged to see so many other men share the same commitment to the same Christian faith as they have. That believers actually have a connection with other believers that they have never before met in person is a spiritual mystery and miracle. You and I can experience genuine hope, encouragement and strength as we recognize the spiritual union we have with all
other true Christ-followers throughout the history of the world. This is “good and pleasant”!
 

My prayer is that you and I will experience the incredible “koinonia,” the union and partnership we have in Christ with one another.

Pastor Doug

 

 

 

SUNDAY – MARCH 15, 2015

“Arise, shine; for your light has come! And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and deep darkness the people; but the Lord will arise over you, and His glory will be seen upon you. The Gentiles shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.” (Isaiah 60:1-3)

There should be little doubt in our minds that we (i.e. Christians) cannot please “the world.” In fact, we must stop trying to make “the world” happy with us. Jesus said, “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world…therefore the world hates you.” (John 15:18-19) The following words from A. W. Tozer come out of his book, I Talk Back to the Devil, page 146, his commentary on I Peter.

     “It is good for us to remember how strong God is- and how weak we are. I settled this issue a long time ago. I tell you I have talked to God more that I have talked to anyone else. I have reasoned more with God and had longer conferences with God than with anybody else.

     “And what did I tell Him? Among other things, I told Him, ‘Now, Lord, if I do the things I know I should do, and if I say what I know in my heart I should say, I will be in trouble with people and with groups- there is no other way.

     “’Not only will I be in trouble for taking my stand in faith and honesty, but I will certainly be in a situation where I will be seriously tempted of the devil!’

     “Then, after praying more and talking to the Lord, I have said, ‘Almighty Lord, I accept this with my eyes wide open! I know the facts and I know what may happen, but I accept it. I will not run. I will not hide. I will not crawl under a rug. I will dare to stand up and fight because I am on Your side- and I know that when I am weak, than I am strong!’”

Come on, you soldiers of the Cross! Stand up! Stand up for Jesus!

Pastor Doug

 

 

 

SUNDAY – MARCH 8, 2015

“Lord, how they have increased who trouble me! Many are they who rise up against me. Many are they who say of me, ‘There is no help for him in God.’ But You, O Lord, are a shield for me, my glory and the One who lifts up my head. I cried to the Lord with my voice, and He heard me from His holy hill.”

The New Testament clearly warns believers that while we are in this world we are engaged in warfare. Paul’s words to his spiritual son, Timothy, were, “You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.” (II Tim. 2:3) Paul also wrote to the church in Ephesus, “Put on the whole armor of God…for we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly realms.” (Eph. 6:11-12) The essential nature of the warfare is spiritual, but it does involve “flesh-and-blood” people!

In Acts 4, an occasion of persecution is recorded that happened to the apostles in Jerusalem. They gathered and prayed a prayer in which they even named those opposing them. They said, “For truly against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together.” (Acts 4:27) Then they prayed, “Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word, by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus.” (Acts 4:29-30) The Apostles knew that the real battle was spiritual in nature, but it is manifested in real, flesh-and-blood experience.

The good news is that God answered their prayer so that Acts records, “And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all.” (Acts 4:33) May God answer our prayer and fill us with the Holy Spirit so we will be able to fight the battles before us, and experience His miraculous victory! Let’s march onward in faith and hope!

I’m in the Lord’s army,

Pastor Doug

 

 

 

SUNDAY – MARCH 1, 2015

“I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make its boast in the Lord; the humble shall hear of it and be glad. Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together.” Psalm 34:1-3

Please do not come to church and think that you must “measure up” to some standard that another person has set for you. There is no need for any of us to worry about satisfying the expectations of those who gather with us to worship. In fact, all of us should come to church and do our best to “get our eyes off of man.” The real goal is to gather with people who have come to “seek the Lord” and turn our whole attention toward Him. Let’s “turn our eyes toward Jesus, and look full into His wonderful face.” Hallelujah! Let’s praise Him.

There is something that will happen to us that might prove to be uncomfortable at first. When a person has a vision of God in His glory and holiness he or she will see himself or herself as “undone.” That person will recognize personal sinfulness. Isaiah had a vision of God in the Temple as He was surrounded by seraphim who cried out, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!” The place was physically shaken and Isaiah declared, “Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.” (See Isaiah 6:1-5.)

When you come to church, do not compare yourself to others who have gathered with you. Look at God, and compare yourself to Him. Now, how do you “measure up?” This is a good question to ask yourself and a good exercise to do. God promises a good result when we confess our sin! David wrote, “I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord, and You forgave the iniquity of my sin.’” (Psalm 32:5)

We have not come to “wear a mask” in the Presence of our God. We have come to find forgiveness and mercy!

Pastor Doug

 

 

 

SUNDAY – FEBRUARY 22, 2015

“Praise the Lord! Praise the name of the Lord; praise Him, O you servants of the Lord! You who stand in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God, praise the Lord, for the Lord is good; sing praises to His name, for it is pleasant.” Psalm 135:1-3

The Bible has many passages that declare that the fellowship of God’s people is a good thing. In fact, there are only positive instructions for God’s people concerning how they are to treat one another. Perhaps the foundational instruction is “love one another.” Jesus told His disciples that the distinguishing characteristic of His followers would be their love for one another. There are many other instructions that are based on Christian brotherly love that should guide us when we are with our brothers and sisters in Christ. We are to “forgive one another” and “encourage one another.” It should be obvious that we are to “pray for one another,” and in the process we will “bear one another’s burdens.” All of those phrases in quotation marks are directly from the Bible. There is one summary found in Ephesians 4:25-32, and here is a portion of that passage.

     “Therefore, putting away lying, ‘Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,’ for we are members of one another….Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by who you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.”

Perhaps John Fawcett was thinking of these instructions when he wrote “Blest Be the Tie That Binds.”

Blest be the tie that binds Our hearts in Christian love;

The fellowship of kindred minds Is like to that above.

Before our Father’s throne We pour our ardent prayers;

Our fears, our hopes, our aims are one, Our comforts and our cares.

Let’s pray and work for our fellowship to be genuinely Christ-like!

Pastor Doug

 
 
 
 
 

SUNDAY – FEBRUARY 15, 2015

   “Teach me Your way, O Lord; I will walk in Your truth; Unite my heart to fear Your name. I will praise You, O Lord my God, with all my heart, and I will glorify Your name forevermore.” Psalm 86:11, 12

Many of us have been reminded of the importance and essential need of love in the human heart. Few people would argue against the fact that love is needed by our soul as much as air and water are needed by our bodies. We celebrate the love of our parents and rejoice in the love of our Creator and God. We realize our need for love is no different than the need of all the other people living around us. Certainly as followers of Jesus Christ, we want to be generous in sharing the genuine love of God with those who share this world with us. Most every person, including non-Christians, will agree that demonstrating love throughout our lifetime is the best way to live.

The area in which we often disagree is how best to demonstrate that love. The world is inclined to say that love is always tolerant and does not infringe on other people’s moral choices. The world is inclined to say that we shouldn’t offend others who don’t agree with us. As a result of these specific tendencies, the world has very little to offer about truth. Generally they can’t accept any absolutes and attempt to define truth with great difficulty. This is not the way of God and His people, believers in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Christians have a definite idea about truth. It comes from God and it is unchanging. God has spoken and given His truth to us specifically because He loves us. What loving parent would say to his or her child, “That boiling water might not be a good thing in which to put your hand. Well, go ahead and decide for yourself whether you like it or not.” Truth must always guide love! As Bible-believing Christians, we must learn to “speak the truth in love.” We do not want to be intentionally irritating nor arrogant, but we must not hedge on the Truth of God. We must stand firm and faithful to the eternal Word of God!

Loving truthfully,

Pastor Doug

 

 
 
 

SUNDAY – FEBRUARY 8, 2015

“If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would be of no value whatsoever. …There are three things that will endure- faith, hope, and love- and the greatest of these is love.”  (I Corinthians 13:3, 13, NLT)

Here we are right smack dab in the middle of the month of love. This coming weekend is St. Valentine’s Day, the day remembered with red hearts, roses, and messages of love to those who are significant in our lives. An interesting thought concerns the truly Christian origins of this celebrated day. It seems there was a time when few people ever doubted that Christianity was a religion of love and peace. From the Bible, it is clear that our Savior Jesus Christ has always been the Champion of Love.  He was motivated by it. He modeled it. He taught His disciples to love just as He loved (and He still does!).  Interestingly, the popular evaluation of Christianity by the world is that it is a religion of intolerance, prejudice, hate, oppression and war. While it is certain that some individual Christians have not always loved in the manner taught by our Lord, the fact is that really genuine love comes to us from God through Jesus Christ. We are reminded of what some have called the greatest verse of Holy Scripture: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16) The Biblical witness declares over and over that God loves us with “an everlasting love.” (See Jeremiah 31:3.)
       

May the Holy Spirit fill all of us with power so that we might be witnesses of God’s great love in this dark and hateful world!

Pastor Doug
 
 
 
 
 

SUNDAY – FEBRUARY 1, 2015

“And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.’” –Matthew 28:18-19

This past month was designated as Missions Month at Needmore Bible Church. Because of the Lord’s “interruption” last Sunday morning, we “did not finish” looking at specific Missions messages that He would have us to share. Although several individuals/families placed a Faith-Promise in the offering, we did not complete the presentation of our Faith-Promises to the Lord. “Thank you” to all who have been praying and giving serious consideration to God’s leading in your personal Faith-Promise decision. Our obedience to God is all that’s required of us to be able to do our part in carrying the Gospel to the ends of the earth and fulfilling the Great Commission. Founder of the Christian and Missionary Alliance, A. B. Simpson wrote about what would happen when we are all filled with the Spirit and allow Him to have His way in our lives.

     “So to-day the Holy Ghost, if we would but hear His voice, would call a halt on much of our religious activity and even our revival plans, and the beckoning finger of the ‘Man of Macedonia’ would call us to the new West which has arisen upon our horizon, the Pacific shore, the Sunrise Kingdom, China’s millions and India’s multitudes, would say to us ‘Arise from your religious selfishness, and if you would have the Pentecostal baptism in all its fullness go forth where the Comforter has already gone before you, and be witnesses unto Me unto the uttermost part of the Earth.’”

                                                                           When the Comforter Came, Twenty-seventh Day
 

May the Holy Spirit fill all of us with power so that we can send the gospel to the ends of the earth!

Pastor Doug

 

 
 
 

SUNDAY – JANUARY 25, 2015

“And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.’” –Matthew 28:18-19

January has been designated as Missions Month at Needmore Bible Church. We have been seeking to follow our Lord’s command to share the Gospel with the whole world. He has set a great challenge before us, but at the same time He has given us great promises of His power at work within us. He has not asked us to do anything for which He will not provide the resources and also enable us to accomplish. Heaven’s riches are available for the church in order to evangelize the world. When the Holy Spirit works through us, great things happen. Jonathan Goforth, missionary leader in China, wrote about what God accomplished in China in his book, By My Spirit.
     “In this book we speak of results which are abnormal. If the Almighty Spirit moves in sovereign power on the hearts and consciences of men the outcome must be above the normal. In his introduction to Miss Dyer’s Revival in India, Dr. A. T. Schofield says: ‘One thing to be borne in mind is that since the days of Pentecost there is no record of the sudden and direct work of the Spirit of God upon the souls of men that has not been accompanied by events more or less abnormal. It is, indeed, on consideration, only natural that it should be so. We cannot expect an abnormal inrush of Divine Light and power, so profoundly affecting the emotions and changing the lives of men, without remarkable results. As well expect a hurricane, an earthquake, or a flood, to leave nothing abnormal in its course, as to expect a true Revival that is not accompanied by events quite out of our ordinary experience.’” (p. 9)
  1. B. Simpson wrote the following about the infilling of the Holy Spirit in When the Comforter Came.
“Beloved, if we are truly filled with the Holy Spirit and longing for the coming of Christ, we shall be active witnesses and workers in preparing for Him.  We will be soul winners at home, and if we cannot go abroad we will help others to go and give the gospel quickly to all the world.”
 

May the Holy Spirit fill all of us with power so that we can send the gospel to the ends of the earth!

Pastor Doug

 

 

 

SUNDAY – JANUARY 18, 2015

“And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.’” –Matthew 28:18-19

January has been designated as Missions Month at Needmore Bible Church. We are attempting to “check our spiritual pulse.” Many believe that the “spiritual pulse” is measured best by the missionary involvement of the church. If there is a “spiritual pulse,” there must be engagement in a missions outreach. If there is no missions program at a church, there is no “spiritual pulse” in the life of the congregation. Norman Lewis reminds us that one day in the future God is going to check the “spiritual pulse” of every one of us.

      “’Doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it? And he that keepeth thy soul, doth not he know it? And shall not he render to every man according to his works?’ These words tell of a coming judgment. Any Christian can be selfish now. Mark it well. God does nothing in haste. He does not rush to judgment. God lets every man show fully what is in his heart. But the eyes of God are constantly upon the motives of men. God sees, God knows. The day is coming when accounts must be rendered. The Apostle Paul says, ‘We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ’ (II Cor. 5:10). No excuse will stand the test of that hour. There will be no dodging. Sins of omission will be judged. Christians who refused the gospel to lost men will be faced with their crime.

     “What a solemn hour that will be. People ask whether a man can be saved who has never heard the gospel. It might be better to ask whether a man can be saved who has never given the gospel to the heathen. Not that salvation is by works. But what of a man who knows others are dying without Christ, yet shuts his heart against them? Can a man belong to Christ and have none of Christ’s compassion? The Bible says, ‘If any man has not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his’ (Rom. 8:9). Can the Holy Spirit be in a man’s life without manifesting His presence?”  

Let’s be sure that our “spiritual pulse” is beating with concern for the lost and dying multitudes in this world that need to hear the gospel of Christ!  

Pastor Doug

 

 

 

SUNDAY – JANUARY 11, 2015

“And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.’” –Matthew 28:18-19

 January has been designated as Missions Month at Needmore Bible Church. We are attempting to learn what the Bible teaches us about being a “Great-Commission Church” and how we can raise our GCQ (Great Commission Quotient). Norman Lewis spent his life calling believers to be a part of fulfilling God’s plan for the church, and served as “missions director” at Back to the Bible radio ministry for many years. He wrote several books, among which was a booklet entitled “Triumphant Missionary Ministry in the Local Church.” The following comes from the very first chapter of that booklet.

     “The mission of the Church is missions. To make Christ known to all men is her task. For this she has been left in the world. This is the work Christ commanded His Church to do.

     “To evangelize the world does not mean to Christianize or convert the world. It means to so proclaim the gospel message that every man who will can hear.  World evangelization is not to bring all the world to Christ; our task is to take Christ to all the world. The vital, throbbing core of the whole New Testament is the Church’s responsibility to make Christ known to every human being. The Book’s (i.e. The Bible’s) own testimony to that fact is crystal clear.

     “Since world evangelization is the Church’s great goal she should be adapted to that end. We have but to look about us to see how organizations and organisms are suited to their purposes. The function of a choir is to sing. Its members are chosen for that ability. A plane must fly. Its whole structure and symmetry so testify. The construction of a rifle shows it is made to fire a bullet with power and precision. And what of the local church? Its purpose is to evangelize the world. Should not this fact be manifest in its whole plan and program? Surely to argue otherwise would be to deny the Church’s mission on earth.”

Let’s work together so that “our form follows our function.” Let’s work together and build a Great Commission Church!

Pastor Doug

 

 

SUNDAY – JANUARY 4, 2015

“And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.’” –Matthew 28:18-19

January has been designated as Missions Month at Needmore Bible Church. We will hear many important words like “The Great Commission,” “world evangelization,” “missionaries,” “God’s global purpose and plan,” and “faith promise.” We will be encouraged to become engaged in fulfilling God’s plan by “going, giving and praying.” It is a wonderful privilege to be part of what God is doing around the world. We will be encouraged by exciting opportunities that He will offer to us. We will learn about these ideas from the Bible as it is the final practical authority for all believers.  Robertson McQuilkin explains why we will want to become involved and what our motive is for being a “Great-Commission Church” in his book, The Five Smooth Stones.  On page 141, he wrote that our basic motivation must be the “other-love” that comes from God. We must love people as He loves people.
      “Other-love in terms of ‘holistic’ concern for health, education, and justice is OK, we’re told by advocates, but other-love in terms of a rescue mission from a bad ending- well, that’s so offensive to the postmodern that we mustn’t even mention it, let alone emphasize it.

     “The way I read Scripture, however, is that God so loved people that He gave His one and only Son to- do what? Save them from perishing (hell), we read. I believe the increasing shift among evangelicals to de-emphasize hell could prove the demise of Pauline-style mission. And thus the death of multitudes who would, as a consequence, never hear the Good News of redemption.

     “We may love others in many ways: seeking their health, promoting justice, advancing education. And we should. Furthermore, the missions movement always has. But above all, we should love them into eternal life, away from eternal death. May our churches never fail to love as God loves, to extend His provision of eternal salvation to the dark half of the world. God was motivated by people-love, so that must be our motivation as well, if we are to be God-like.”

Sending the Light,

Pastor Doug