Joe had been a faithful choir member for over 30 years! Joe recently had hearing aids installed but still singing in the choir! About half the choir members went to the director of ministry and complained Joe was singing off key and could no longer carry a tune! It was a distraction for the choir! All problems in the church eventually end up on the Pastor’s desk! Pastor called in Joe for a meeting and explained to him half the choir wanted Joe to leave the choir! Joe you could join another ministry in this church like hospice! Joe looked at the pastor and explained to him something that had been on his heart for years! Pastor about half the congregation says you cannot preach! Should we both leave the church? Joe promised the pastor he would open his mouth in the choir but not sing! I will look like a song bird without the song! Pastor Oscar Cope, Mount Vernon Baptist Church, Fairburn Georgia.
Tag: cope
Only Two Ways! Romans 6:4
Hot or cold, right or wrong, abundance or lack, day or night, peace or war, light or darkness, freedom or slavery, innocent or guilty, satisfied or hungry, sight or blind, righteousness or evil, rain or drought, honor or dishonor, marriage or divorce, male or female, respect or disrespect, love or hate, creation or evolution, incarnation or reincarnation, birth or abortion, legal or illegal, citizen or alien, law or lawlessness, obedience or disobedience, loyalty or rebellion, authority or anarchy, heaven or hell, death or resurrection, burial or cremation and forgiveness or guilt. There are only one of two ways God cleanses or purifies his creation! Either through judgment or redemption! Which way he uses on you depends on what you do with his Son Jesus Christ! There is a way that seems right unto a man but those ways lead to death! The opposite of eternal life is eternal death! The choice is in our own hands! It would be foolish to reject those hands who were nailed on the Cross for your sin who took your place as guilty! You cannot acquit yourself of your sin! It takes the love of God to do it! Pastor Oscar Cope, Mount Vernon Baptist Church, Fairburn, Georgia.
Why Did He Leave Home?
Usually when someone goes on a vacation they leave home! Jesus the Son of God left Heaven his home to come to earth! Born of a virgin to live and suffer on a Cross for you! Jesus left home so you could go home! He has added great value to your life! Jesus has prepared a place for you in Heaven! Our lives are only precious because Jesus made them precious in his sacrifice for us! Jesus values you more than any human you will ever meet here on earth! Why? Because he is not just human he is God! One mortal cannot save another mortal! Only God the immortal can save us mortals and he has for those that trust him over themselves! Happy Easter! Pastor Oscar Cope.
Watch! Witness! Worship!
These three words describes the actions of all the participants of the first Christmas night! Jesus light pushes back the darkness of your life! The Angel’s, the wise men and the shepherds all watched that night in great wonder! God did not accomplish the birth of his Son all by himself! He engaged the help of his creation to get the job done! From the lowest to the highest in cultural rankings he used people who were watching for him! The shepherds were raising a special breed of sheep! They were broad tailed sheep that were only used for sacrifice! Remember Cain and Abel? Cain’s vegetarian sacrifice was not accepted by God however his brother Abel made an animal or blood sacrifice that was acceptable to God! Abel was a shepherd! The Shepherd’s were culturally familiar with every manger in Bethlehem! By contrast the wise men of the East were men of science studying the scriptures and astronomy! They could have been Persians, Iraqis or even Jews! The Arab’s would have been familiar with the Jewish scriptures since the Jews were captives in Babylon for 70 years! We assume there were three wise men from the three gifts however traveling across the Arabian desert would require a caravan of people for supplies and safety! These men were wise because they were watching for God! They were looking for him! Are you looking for God? They had read the scriptures and were looking for that special star! They were educated in the sciences of astronomy and scripture! They were so familiar with the stars they would recognize a new star! Are you so familiar with the scriptures you would recognize Christ’s second coming? So they watched the scriptures and the signs in the heavens! The Angel’s watched that night from Heaven and earth! They were watching those who were watching for God! If you want God’s attention look for him! You may have temporary success in this life and people will watch you for awhile but then they will move on to the next celebrity! They will forget you! When we get God’s attention he will remember you forever! King Herod was not looking for Jesus! However when he discovered he had missed Jesus he took revenge on the small babies of Bethlehem! When the world misses Jesus second coming they will cry and wail and take revenge out on one another! This season is a great opportunity for us to watch, witness and worship Jesus! If you do eternal life with Christ is the gift under his tree that will never perish! Source: Pastor Oscar Cope Message. James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
What Jesus Wants for Christmas?
Well, it is Jesus birthday so what does he want? Since I was a little child I always was asked what I want for Christmas? The gifts were for me! I though it was all about me! Jesus gave us the greatest gift but what do with it? Do I treat the gifts as precious? Could I give Jesus more of my time? The time is not mine because he created time! Could I give him gold like the wise men? The streets of Heaven are paved with gold and besides the scriptures declare he is more precious than silver or gold! Could I pray more? He is interceding for me right now at the right hand of the Father! Could I love him more? He first loved me! Could I live for him? He gave his life for me! Could I put sinners under his Christmas tree? Could I put the lost souls of this generation under his tree? Could I present worms turned to butterfly’s under his tree? Could I help to populate Heaven and earth with Saints! Forgiven sinners? Only by his power and grace! Can I do anything without Jesus? I can sin and live a selfish life away from him! I can work death instead of life! Because of him I do not have to do that! I think the best thing I can do for Christmas is receive his gift of Salvation and eternal life and share his gift with others! Happy Birthday Jesus! Pastor Oscar Cope, Mount Vernon Baptist Church, Fairburn, Georgia.
Who Are They? Revelation 2:6
Who are the Nicolaitians? The word in the Greek means the conqueror of the people! Specifically in the Church of God! They are only referred to twice in the Book of Revelation. Both the church at Ephesus and the Church at Pergamos had the same problem! (Verse 2:15). The Nicolaitians were Bishops and prelates of the church gaining a triumphal victory over the laity! This is the very sin that brought forth the Reformation! It is mostly responsible for all our denominational and non-denominational churches around the world! The Nicolaitians compelled and forced church members to submit to the arbitrary dominion of men who have become the ones which the eternal hates! The Apostle Peter warned us that those who are leaders among God’s people must not dominate the faith of others but rather exhort them to do right! (1 Peter 5:1-3). The Nicolaitians are people in the church who have established a hierarchy of power and dominion under a government of ecclesiastical rulers! Comment: Yes! God hates these folks! Correction is very different from condemnation! We take the word disciple from the word discipline. Jesus used the techniques of correction and commendation very effectively! We as parents either tend to over correct and under commend or over commend and under correct! Everything I do cannot be right and everything I do cannot be wrong! That is why I need a Savior! My experience in ministry over the past 45 years has shown me people do not like to submit to authority! This is the nature of Satan! Most people will submit to authority if commended and corrected in love! However some will never! Hell is reserved for these folks! Why will some never submit? Because they want to replace God! This explains why the world is a war! War on God! Jesus asked the churches at Ephesus and Pergamos to repent! Sunday our Pastor Oscar Cope made an important point to us in his sermon! He said that the beginning of repentance is the end of judgment! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
Christbook or Facebook? Revelation 20:15
So which is it? Christbook or Facebook? It is not about me or about you! It is about Christ! You can let God make it about you but first you have to make it about him! Then you are moving in the right direction to stay out of the Lake of Fire! God did make it about you on the Cross! But if you reject his sacrifice for your sin then you become the sacrifice! You do not want to go there! After I discovered Christ’s love for me then for the rest of my life I have made it about him! So is your name in his Book? Is your name written in the Book of Life? How would I know? If you shared his name on your Facebook! Is your name written down in Heaven? If it was then you would share his name on earth! I do not wish the Lake of Fire on anyone! However the choice will be yours to make! In fact it has already been made! Unless you change your mind? God asked the same question in Daniel 12:1, that he has asked you in Revelation 20:15. Have you made it all about Christ? This is the only evidence God will find in the earth! Pastor Oscar Cope our Pastor here in Georgia has been in the ministry for over 50 years! So he has seen everything there is to see in ministry! He shared with us some of the excuses people make even in the church to avoid Christ! Some say I cannot take Communion or make the trip to the Altar because Christ and God is too Holy! I know God has forgiven me but I cannot forgive myself! Really? Are you greater than God? If God has forgiven you who in the world are you? Identification with Christ can only come while you are here on the earth! Your decision for Christ is only done in this life! But it determines your next life! How could I identify with Christ on Facebook? Put some Bible verses up on it! Embarrassed what your friends might think? Then you are not saved! No secret service Christians in earth or in Heaven! What evidence is there on earth that Christ is first in your life! Do you cheat God on your tithes and offerings! Do you work on Sunday or keep the Sabbath Holy? The evidence is either for or against you! Do you love others more than yourself? Can I have it both ways? My name in God’s Book and keep my Facebook account? Yes if you put and share Christ on your account! Your Facebook account will be closed one day! Then the Book of Life will be opened in Heaven! We hope and pray your name will be written there but your life for or against Christ is being recorded right now! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
Only 4 Weeks to Live!
Our Pastor challenged us with this question! If you had only 4 weeks to live what would you do? Would you do anything different in the next 30 days from what you normally do? John stood up in the congregation and declared he would go out and feed the poor with the money he had left in his savings account! Sally stood up and said she would pray! Pray! Pray! Pray for a healing and be closer to Jesus! Henry stood up in the congregation and said he would spend the last 4 weeks of his life over at his mother-in-law’s house! He told the congregation it would be the longest 4 weeks of my life! Pastor Oscar Cope, Mount Vernon Baptist Church, Fairburn, Georgia.
Treasure in Heaven? Upon the Earth?
Matthew 6:19-21 Comment: So what is the difference between earth and heaven? What did Jesus mean here? You might think you know the difference but let us look at the Greek root words used for these two English words! The word earth means the dust part of the earth! It does not include the above ground earth! However we are made from the dust of the earth! We will return to the dust of the earth! All the elements in the human body are found in the dust of the earth! Science confirms the scriptures of your Bible! The word heaven used here is also interesting because this word used here by Jesus means in a physical sense! It means the all embracing heaven beneath which is the earth. What does the word heart mean? It means every thought, reasoning, understanding, will, judgment, designs, affections, love, hatred, fear, joy, sorrow and anger of a human being! We cannot hide our heart from God! This is reason alone to repent of our sin! Misplaced values of the heart will lead to wrong choices! So what did Jesus mean when we put all these three words together? Jesus was saying do not invest your life in dust! Your earthly treasures will perish with your body! Jesus is saying the eternal part of us will never perish! It is your soul, mind and eternal body! Jesus will one day raise us from the dead! To invest treasures in heaven means to invest in souls here in the earth! Use your resources to reach people for Christ! This is why our Pastor Cope Sunday had an emphasis on Vacation Bible School for our children! This is why he had a Gideon’s International speaker at the pulpit to fund Bible distribution world wide! If you go after money and not soul’s you will become spiritually bankrupt! Separated from God! Will your treasure perish with you or grow the Kingdom of God here on earth? Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
One Week After Easter! April 14, 1912
Pastor John Harper was an accomplished Pastor out of Scotland with hundreds of congregation members in his home church! He had been invited by Moody Church in Chicago to participate with this ministry! He was excited and his young daughter and sister accompanied them on a brand new ship on it’s maiden voyage to New York! His wife had been deceased years earlier. The Titanic was promoted as the safest ship to ever sail. On the late night of April 14th the Titanic struck that rock of ice and began taking on water! As the tragedy unfolded Pastor Harper helped load the women and children into the life boats! He gave up his life vest to another who did not have one! A crew member warned him that without the life vest you are going down with the ship! Pastor Harper replied that he was going up and not down! Pastor Harper kept shouting to the crowds, “Do you know Jesus as your Savior?” He continued to shout, “No one can save you tonight but God!” Survivors said that Pastor Harper kept preaching the Gospel to the end especially after Acts 16:31. Are you saved was his continual cry to the people entering the cold icy waters of the North Atlantic! Pastor Harper found himself in the cold frigid waters clinging to a deck chair floating in the water! As people floated by him he would ask them if they were saved? Do you know Christ! Declare His name from your lips and enter into eternal life! You only have one chance tonight! Do not let the love of this world keep you from Christ! Christ loves you but not this world! Trust Christ not your own efforts! Whether here tonight or later we will all perish from this earth! There is only one name under Heaven in where you can be saved! Pastor Harper with over 1500 people perished that night and entered eternity either saved or lost! Are you saved! When we run out of time we run out of choices! The word time means, “To Honor.” Why not honor Him today with the rest of your life here on earth? Pastor John Harpers life can be seen by reading a book called, “The Titanic’s Last Hero”, published by Moody Adams. Do not let Easter slip away from you under the dark waters of death! Pastor Oscar Cope, Mount Vernon Baptist Church, Fairburn, Georgia.