Thank God for Those Who Gave It All

This is not original with me, I have read it several times and maybe you have too, but in light of this weekend and what we celebrated here in America I felt I would pass it on to you. As I mentioned in Sunday’s service we are blessed to live in this country. Yes, we get frustrated with the actions of our country some times and our politicians often seem to forget we are still living but it’s still a great place to live. When we compare it to all the places around the globe it is easy to see that God has blessed us and we must remember, “where much is given, much is required.” (Luke 12:48)

"Freedom isn't and never will be Free, there's always a price to pay!"  

Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence?
Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died.
Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned.
Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army; another had two sons captured.
Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War.
They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor. What kind of men were they?
Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists. Eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and large plantation owners; men of means, well educated, but they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured.
Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his home and properties to pay his debts, and died in rags.
Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without pay, and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him, and poverty was his reward.
Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton.
At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson, Jr., noted that the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters. He quietly urged General George Washington to open fire. The home was destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt.
Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months.
John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she was dying. Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his children vanished.
So, take a few minutes to silently thank these patriots for all their sacrifices. It's not much to ask for the price they paid. Remember: Freedom is never free!

I would also encourage you to remember the others who have given their lives from the Minute Men to the men and women of this day. Many in the media, Hollywood and the politicians often think they are the ones who are making this country but their wrong. Those who paid the full price are the ones who are making it what we have today. It is their names that are in stone not those we will soon forget about with the passing of time.

Yes, the Almighty has put us in the great country, now one of the most under evangelized countries in the world. We must take full advantage of our blessings and make a lasting difference while we have the chance.

God bless you and God bless America is my prayer.

I Can Make A Difference If I Change

Wow! Sunday was one great day!

Sunday’s Friends/Name Tag Sunday was a wonderful event. The building was full and the service was a blessing and the meal after was a blast. The house was full of new first time guest and many returning guest and we had a blessed time in the presences of the Lord.

I spoke on the wonder and power of being part of the Family of God, joining hands with each of those in the church, the Bride of Christ, and doing the work of God. Again I was touched by the story in the book Same Kind of Different as Me. Allow me to pass on part of the story I used Sunday.

  “Same kind of Different as Me” is a true story of the lives of a Multimillionaire and a homeless man. The millionaire is a white man raised in the red dirt land of Texas who was self-made.  The homeless man was a colored man raised in the plantation land of Louisiana south of Shreveport. The book is their lives from a child to adulthood and how God brought them together in downtown Fort Worth and how they become close friends and change each other and their world.

In the beginning of their getting to know one another the wealthy Ron Hall is working in a shelter and meets the homeless Denver Moore. As time has it Ron takes Denver out for breakfast one day and during their conversation Denver asks Ron what he wanted with him. To which Ron replied he wanted to be his friend. Denver said he would have to think about it and two weeks later has an answer for the rich man Ron. Again they are having coffee when Denver says he has been thinking a lot about what Ron ask him. Ron has seemingly forgotten and doesn’t know what Denver is talking about. Denver reminds him that Ron had asked to be his friend.

The millionaire Ron wrote; My jaw dropped an inch. I’d forgotten I had told him at the Café that all I wanted from him was his friendship; he’s said he’d think about it. Now, I was shocked that anyone would spend a week pondering such a question. While the whole conversation had slipped my mind, Denver had clearly spent serious time preparing his answer.

He looked up from his coffee, fixing me with one eye, the other squinted like Clint Eastwood. “There’s something I heard ‘bout white folks that bothers me, and it has to do with fishing.”

He was serious and didn’t dare laugh, but I did try to lighten the mood a bit. “I don’t know if I’ll be able to help you,” I said smiling. “I don’t even own a tackle box.”

Denver scowled, not amused, “I think you can.”

He spoke slowly and deliberately, keeping me pinned with that eyeball, ignoring the Starbucks conversations going on the patio around us. He said, “I heard that when white folks go fishing they do something called catch and release.”

Catch and release? I nodded solemnly, suddenly nervous and curious at the same time.

“That really bothers me,” Denver went on. “I just can’t figure it out.” ‘Cause when colored folks go fishing, we are really proud of what we catch and we take it and show it off to everybody that’ll look. Then we eat what we catch… in other words, we use it to sustain us. So it really bothers me that white folks would go to all the trouble to catch a fish, and then when they done caught it, just throw it back in the water.”

Denver paused again and the silence between us stretched a full minute. Then: “Did you hear what I said?” I nodded, afraid to speak, afraid to offend.

Denver looked away, searching the blue autumn sky, then locked onto me again with that drill-bit stare. “So, Mr. Ron, it occurred to me: if you are fishing for a friend and you just gonna catch and release, then I an’t got no desire to be your friend.”

The world seemed to halt in midstride and fall silent around us like a freeze frame scenes on TV. I could hear my heart pounding and imagined Denver could see it popping my breast pocket up and down. I returned Denver’s gaze with what I hoped was a receptive expression and hung on.

Suddenly Denver’s eyes gentled and he spoke more softly then before: “But if you is looking for a real friend, then I’ll be one. Forever.”

I was moved by this Catch and Release example. I am amazed by how we in the church often decide with our actions who can be in the church and who can’t. We often find ourselves deciding who is good enough and who isn’t. If we even plan to make a lasting difference we will have to join hands with those coming into the church and let God use each of us to make a great difference together.

Ron and Denver’s story tells how they each changed the other for the better. Because they did this, God used them to make a great difference in their world. They could have never done what they did if it hadn’t been for the other one in their life. It is a modern day Jonathan and David story from the Bible. A peasant boy becomes friends with the king’s son, the prince, and together they make a large difference. What could God do with you if you joined hands with His church and stopped just talking about change and changed? It’s how the Almighty has planned to reach the world. The Book of Revelations tells us that the Spirit (the Almighty), and the bride (the Church) says come. Both together are reaching the world. If you want to matter in the kingdom of God get involved in what God is doing with His church. (Revelations 22:17)

The following is not original with me. It was written by a twenty year old girl about when she becomes age fifty.

I am part of a lost generation

And I refuse to believe

I can change my world

I realize this may be a shock but

“Happiness comes from within”

Is a lie, and

“Money will make me happy”

So in 30 years I will tell my children

They are not the most important thing in my life

My employer will know that

I have my priorities straight because

Work

Is more important than

Family

I tell you this

Once upon a time

Families stayed together

But this will not be true in my era

This is a quick fix society

Experts tell me

30 yrs from now I will celebrate the 10 anniversary of my divorce

I do not concede that

I will live in a country of my own making

In the future

Environmental destruction will be the norm

No longer can it be said that

My peers and I care about the world

It will be evident that

My generation is apathetic and lethargic

It is foolish to presume that

There is hope.

And all this will come true unless we chose to change and reverse it.

(Now starting at the last sentence read the above lines from the twenty year old from the bottom up and see what change will sound like.)

Come on join hands with what God is doing and allow it to change your life forever.

Its Our Turn Now!

Sunday at FPB was another wonderfully blessed and anointed day of the Lord. It was great to see the new faces of first time guest and to see new people in the altar repenting and seeking the Lord. The Lord poured out His Spirit and filled some for the first time and many were given a renewal of the Holy Ghost. To God be the glory.

I just finished reading a book that will no doubt find its way to my recommended reading list for next year. The book has changed the way I look at people and also challenged me to look at a field of labor I really never considered for revival. I promise you will hear more about the thoughts of this book in the coming months at FPB. The book was mentioned and recommended to me a couple of years ago by Misty. I just got to it this year and have enjoyed it greatly, it’s called, Same Kind of Different as Me. It’s a story written by a multimillionaire (Ron Hall) and a homeless man (Denver Moore) It is their story of the slow process of God making them best of friends and how it changed their lives. At the end of the book is an interview with Ron and Denver. In this interview they are asked what message they hope the book gives. It is in response to this question that Denver says, “You never know whose eyes God is watching you through. It probably ain’t gonna be your preacher and it just might be someone who was living like I used to.”

I read that statement and begin to wonder whose eyes God is watching me through. Again my mind went to the words and example Jesus gave in the last section of Matthew 25. Look at your life; I wonder whose eyes God is watching you through. He is you know, how are you doing? It is worth stopping and considering. Why? Eternity is hanging on it, just read the last part of Matthew 25.

This thinking caused Micah 6:8 to jump off the pages of scriptures at me. “He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” What does this verse say to us about the attitude we take towards other people?

There is more I’ll say about this book but I challenge you to put it on your summer reading list. It will make a difference in you I promise.

In Sunday’s evening service I knelt at the altar to pray with a lady who was struggling with the chains of this world in her life. As I begin to pray God seemed to remind me that I was here to help with this very kind of thing. It’s my call and purpose.

In the Gospel of Luke in chapter 4 Jesus has just come from a forty day fast and prayer meeting. He walks into church and is given the book of Isaiah. He opens it and reads the first part of the sixty-first chapter. Jesus then says He has fulfilled the prophecy and hands the book back to the minister then sits down.  Jesus did what He came to do and has handed the book to us and now is seeing what we will do with what is written.

I went to the book of Isaiah and read what Jesus read. There are eleven things that Jesus came to do. If He has fulfilled His part and handed the book to us then it is our turn to do the same. Read the first three verses that Jesus read and see what eleven things we are called to do.

The verse starts out with, “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because He has anointed me to…” It all starts with the anointing in your life.

You and I will never accomplish anything for God without His hand on our life. The day you start depending on your abilities and knowledge to do the work of God is the day you will come up real short in the Lord. Jesus put it all together in such a fashion that you have to depend on Him. Without faith it is impossible to please Him. First and foremost we need God’s anointing on our life. We get this through prayer and daily touching the throne room of grace and mercy with our lives and living.

After declaring the Spirit of the Lord God was to be on us He list eleven things we are to do.

To preach good news to the meek or lowly.

To bind up or heal the broken hearted.

To proclaim liberty to the captives or those who are led away.

To open the prison to those who are bound.

To proclaim the delight of a brand new time or age.

To proclaim the day of God defeating His enemy.

To comfort everyone who mourns.

To provide for those who grieve in Zion or the church.

To give them beauty for the ashes of their life.

To give then the oil of joy for their tears.

To give them a garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness in their life.

Then we are given the reason why we do this. Not for our glory or that we get any praise or adoration out of any of it. It is so that the people we minister to will be planted or established in righteousness that the Lord might be glorified.

When I knelt in that altar last evening and prayed for the lady God seemed to say in my ear this is why I anoint your life, that she will be delivered and set free and be established for the Lord’s glory. It why He handed us the book. It’s our turn now but you will have to get anointed and stay anointed to make any kind of difference.

One Busy Blessed Week

All I can say about this busy weekend that we just finished is it was full of golden nuggets of hope and direction. Starting with Men’s Conference and going through the Mother’s Day events and service there was pointers of grace and help everywhere one turned.

Here are a few thoughts I took away from Men’s Conference.

·         God has called you to more than just showing up on Sundays. Look at how you are giving your life. Jesus gave it His all. How much are you giving? Are you the Man? Will you stand and guard what God has entrusted you with? You are the only one who can stand for your family and your marriage, are you being the one who makes the difference?  Johnny Dean

Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers. Psalm 1:1-3 NIV  

·         Church needs to become more than a pep-rally, it needs to become real and lasting change in our lives. In this hour the Church needs all hands on deck. The church needs everyone to be in line with the leadership the Lord has place over it.

As the LORD had commanded Moses his servant, so Moses commanded Joshua, and so Joshua did. He left nothing undone of all that the LORD had commanded Moses. Joshua 11:15 NKJV 

Joshua did what Moses commanded him even though Moses was dead and gone and he was in charge he still followed the leadership the Almighty put in his life. Joshua could have never been a good leader if he had not first been a good follower.

If you want God to touch your life and use you get busy following and working where you are at in life. You don’t need to wait for some off in the future date you think God has for you. Get behind the mission now. Stop believing that the church is sick, it’s a glorious bride!

Why did Samuel run to Eli’s room when he heard the voice of God? The Bible says Samuel did this three times. The answer is simple; the voice of God sounded a lot like his pastor’s (Eli) voice. God’s voice will sound a lot like the leader God has placed in your life. Who are you listening to? Dennis Anderson

·         God is attracted to people with dysfunctions in their life. God uses people who have dysfunctions in their life. Throughout scripture the Lord used people continually who didn’t have it all together. Take your Bible and read about Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the actions and dysfunctions of their life. Yet you find the Almighty declaring He is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in Exodus 3:6. God will still use us even though we might not have it all together yet. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us, Romans 5:8. Yet we cannot become satisficed to just talk about what is wrong in our life we need to change what is wrong. Don’t rush past repentance! Jacob wrestled the night away over his dysfunctions. Yet the morning brought a change of his name. He was no longer a cheater (Jacob) but a prince with God (Israel). God changed Jacob so he wouldn’t have to deal with his dysfunctional label again. Jimmy Toney

There were other speakers and messages, these were just a few that stood out to me.

The Mother’s day services were wonderful and life changing at FPB. In Sunday’s evenings service we heard from four ladies from the FPB family. It was power packed church. The service started with great praise from the worship team and band.

Stephanie, my wife, started off with a challenge for us to come to worship. She told us that even though we may feel walled in with life, like Paul and Silas, who prayed and sang praises, we can break through the walls and things that bind us. She challenged us to worship and allow God to tear down some walls in our life. We can do this through worship and praise to Jesus, Acts 16:25.

Next we heard a wonderful personal testimony from Michelle. Michelle was introduced by her husband Jim. They have only been coming to FPB for less than a year. As she told of how God has delivered her and touched her life an excitement swept over the congregation. I was greatly touched by how she told that not only did God forgive her of her sins but also He helped her forgive herself. The glory of the Lord was all over her and as she finished her testimony and people begin to worship and sing praises, Michelle’s sister and husband came to the altar along with several others. We stopped right there and we baptized Michelle’s sister and brother in-law.

But service wasn’t over; JeriLynn spoke on the power of prayer. She told story after story, miracle after miracle that God had done in her life when she turned to Him in prayer. She challenged everyone to pray! Go after God and watch His miraculous hand touch your life. She challenged us to pray when life is hard or easy, allow your life to change with the power of prayer. Again when she finished people were on their feet worshiping and calling out to God.

Next Rachel spoke on the power of giving. How we need to put more emotions and purpose in our giving, the giving of our time talents and treasures. She challenged us to give with purpose and a right focus. She gave us the Hebrew word for alms in Matthew 6:2-4. It is Tzedakah which means a commandment to give.  Its root word is Tzedek means righteous. These words together mean; the righteous acts of giving which permeate God and the world. The Jews believe that when you give you are actually spreading the light of God when you give with a right heart. What a way to look at giving. She challenged us to give with such a heart that we too spread God’s light around the world. She finished with the ending of the story of Schindler's List, how at the end he said he should have sold his car because he could have saved 10 more Jews. He took a gold stick pin off his lapel and said he should have sold it because it would have save two more people. She asked us, what kind of difference would we make if we gave and gave from a spirit that spreads God’s love and righteousness around the world?

The last several days have left me full and running over with the wonders of God. I challenge you to look at each of these things I what written about that touched my days and allow them to touch yours. I promise you will feel as I do, I can do so much better than I am doing. I plan have some more life change and allow my life to be lived for God in greater fashion.

The Battlefield of the Mind part 3

As I begin this article I want to encourage all of you to continue to pray and do what you can for all those across the many states that have been affected by the storms. We can only imagine what our day would be like if we woke to such a destruction today. Many of these people will wake to such broken worlds for months to come. Ask God to give them strength and peace.

In this article I want to wrap up the thought we have been following for the last three weeks, about overcoming the pressures and battles that go on in our mind. Whether you believe it or not scripture is clear in the fact that this is a battle and an area where we need to have God’s help to have victory and have it daily. So today I will finish this thought with what I personally try to do to push down satan on the battlefield of my mind.

For me it all starts with the Word of God. Isaiah 26:3 gives me the promise that the Lord will keep me. It states, “You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You”. The amazing part of this verse is seen in its original texts as best as I can interpret it. You will guard and watch him or her in happy wholeness or safety whose mind, including imaginations, has taken ahold of the Lord because they trust in or have faith in the Lord. First in my life I have learned that I must and can put my trust and faith in what the Lord is doing. We cannot please the Lord if we cannot trust our life and living to Him. (Hebrews 11:6)

Jesus, in speaking to His disciples about the coming of His Spirit, the Holy Ghost, goes on to tell them that He gives them Peace (quietness and rest) and then reiterates it with My peace (quietness, rest). Then Jesus makes sure we know it’s not the peace we find in this world. He says let not your heart (mind, feelings, middle of your life) be troubled neither be afraid (timid) John 14:27.

Later in John 16:33 Jesus says He told these things that we might have peace, we will have anguish and burdens but keep your chin up He has already defeated that which is trying to overcome you. Again the thing I remind my self is I must have faith in the Lord, trust Him with my life and my living.
That said I know what it is like to go to battle daily on the battlefield of my mind. So there are some things I do personally to make sure I live with the peace Jesus promised me.
I realize that satan wants to give me fits in this arena so I pray daily in Jesus Name that I can cast down imaginations and vain thoughts. (2 Corinthians 10:5)

I have then changed my daily approach to life and living by doing several things.
• I am not afraid to say no to people. To tell them I can’t do it or be there. There is only one of me and I know I do the best I can and have tried to stop being guilty because I’m not superman.
• I am confident in the fact that I don’t have to know all the answers. I am not afraid to say, “I don’t know, I don’t have any idea.” I realize that people sometimes ask me questions to just make sure I am doing my job or they are trying to keep me on my toes. I decide its miserable to keep dancing 24/7, no one can perform at their best all the time even a ballet dancer has to sit down and walk normal.
• I don’t have to do everything. I am learning to trust other people to get the job done. Yes, they will no doubt do it differently than I would but if the results are even closes to the same what difference does it make. I am happy the job was done and I now have other people helping me hold up my responsibility.
• I am trying to stop explaining myself to those people who really don’t want an answer they just want to argue. This is wasted time in my life. Why do I want to give my breathing moments on earth to vain chatter? (Titus 3:9)

No, all these things will not fix everything but I do look at the actions of my daily life and see how healthy I am living. I really believe being emotionally healthy is very important to what God has called me to be. So I look at my living and decisions daily to see if I am living healthy.

Here is something to think about. It was passed on to me from my daughter Rachel.

"Wait to Worry"

An Excerpt from Attitude is Everything by Vicki Hitzges

I used to worry A LOT. The more I fretted the more proficient I became at it. Anxiety begets anxiety. I even worried that I worried too much! Ulcers might develop. My health could fail. My finances could deplete to pay the hospital bills.

A comedian once said, "I tried to drown my worries with gin, but my worries are equipped with flotation devices." While not a drinker, I certainly could identify! My worries could swim, jump and pole vault!

To get some perspective, I visited a well known, Dallas businessman, Fred Smith. Fred mentored such luminaries as motivational whiz Zig Ziglar, business guru Ken Blanchard and leadership expert John Maxwell. Fred listened as I poured out my concerns and then said, "Vicki, you need to learn to wait to worry."

As the words sank in, I asked Fred if he ever spent time fretting. (I was quite certain he wouldn't admit it if he did. He was pretty full of testosterone-even at age 90.) To my surprise, he confessed that in years gone by he had been a top-notch worrier!

"I decided that I would wait to worry!" he explained. "I decided that I'd wait until I actually had a reason to worry-something that was happening, not just something that might happen-before I worried."

"When I'm tempted to get alarmed," he confided, "I tell myself, 'Fred, you've got to wait to worry! Until you know differently, don't worry.' And I don't. Waiting to worry helps me develop the habit of not worrying and that helps me not be tempted to worry."

Fred possessed a quick mind and a gift for gab. As such, he became a captivating public speaker. "I frequently ask audiences what they were worried about this time last year. I get a lot of laughs," he said, "because most people can't remember. Then I ask if they have a current worry - you see nods from everybody. Then I remind them that the average worrier is 92% inefficient - only 8% of what we worry about ever comes true."

Charles Spurgeon said it best. "Anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, but only empties today of its strength."

I hope over the last few weeks you have read some things that will help you on the battlefield of your mind. Stay in the fight and put the fears, imaginations and anxieties under foot with the help of Jesus, He is on your side and you are not in this alone. Trust Him!