Tag: god

Church In The City (Lesson Two) 1 Corinthians 2

Paul was in Corinth for 18 months. Corinth was a dark place. Paul labored in Corinth praying, preaching, proclaiming, evangelizing and leading a small congregation. Paul was a tent maker and labored with his hands rather than demand money from others. He lived in a second story apartment. He stayed with Acquila and Prascilla who were displaced Jews out of Rome. Paul taught in the Jewish Temple in Corinth. Paul also taught in public forums and debated with passion for Christ with unbelievers. Paul himself had a miraculous conversion on the way to Damascus. Paul was faithful, steady and also met resistance everywhere he went. Sometimes you do not get the fruit you are going after. The Gospel is slow but sure! If you are fruitful God will send someone behind you to carry on the work. The foolishness of the Cross transcends all our understanding! Have the mind of Christ or be a fool. Last week we covered some of the particulars of the city of Corinth and it’s brokenness. A prosperous city yet very wicked. The city was ignorant of Christ. God did do miracles there in the midst of darkness. The power of the Gospel has not diminished. 1 Corinthians 2:6. Human wisdom versus God’s wisdom. The wisdom of this age and the rulers of this age. Politicians, military leaders, philosophers and cultural leaders came to nothing in Corinth. Today Corinth is a tourist trap. God’s secret wisdom was hidden before time. If the world had wisdom they would not have Crucified Christ! I am thankful to be an American but that will not save me! Be careful not to let pride steal God’s Glory. Those enamored with intelligence have no room for God! 1 Corinthians 3:18. Do not deceive yourselves. Paul engages the Greek and Roman cultures. A quote from Socrates,”Only true wisdom is to understand that you know nothing!” God has an ocean of wisdom! God’s wisdom is hidden from the world. Just as Paul was blinded from his natural sight the scales were removed from his eyes to see Christ! Here in Colorado Springs we have a 14000 foot mountain in front of us. Pikes Peak towers above all else here. Sometimes the mountain is completely enveloped in a cloud out of view. If you were a tourist passing through our city on a cloudy day they would miss it. So much of the world misses God’s wisdom! How small we are compared to Pikes Peak and the God who created it! Open your mind to the greater. In American culture today you hear you this statement a lot. I am not religious but very spiritual! What does this mean? People are saying I do not need the Bible, I am going a different path, I want my own way, I just do what I understand and I do my own thing. It was spiritual people who murdered Jesus! The Holy Spirit must open our eyes. Listen to the Holy Spirit and He will reveal God to you! The Spirit of God versus the spirit of the world. Is Google your first choice? What God says is right versus what the world says is right. The world points to self as the solution. A great mistake! The greatest mistake and danger to civilization is when you believe you are God! Adam and Eve got tricked by satan when he told them they could be just like God. Yes to know everything! Leave that to God. Be careful if your decisions point to self. Life is simple if you do it the right way. God’s wisdom must be our influence. No decisions without Christ! What did Jesus say about marriage, parenting, money, sex, health, ect? Read your Bible! So many wrong voices out there. Be intentional and make your first call to God! Jesus Christ must be at the center of our decisions. Start with deciding to follow Him. American culture has lost it’s centrality to Christ! We cannot worship intellect and survive. We need right attitude. We are powerless! Humility leads to the power of the Cross! God either leads us or someone else will. Say God I believe and God I choose you! Recognize the limitations of the human mind. Recognize He is God and you are not. Alcoholic recovery organizations have a creed that is really Biblical. They say,”You are powerless to get out of it!” Religion is powerless to overcome sin! Remember Jesus got mad at religious people! God is personal like a home schooler. Parents know best and sit down and teach their children. One of the limitations of public schools is no personal instruction. God connects to us personally so we can understand Him. God is not distant. We are powerless but God is personal! Are you following Him? Source; Message given by Pastor Brady Boyd at New Life Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado. Message given on Sunday, January 12, 2014.

Church In The City

How would the city of Corinth compare today with a modern city? Corinth was the first frontier outpost. It was a prosperous city. Caesar’s Roman army retirement community live there. It was located on a key east-west trade route. The poor got rich in Corinth! You might say all the lotto winners lived there. The displaced Jews lived there because Caesar kicked them out of Rome. Sexual perversion was rampant in Corinth. Somehow money and sex are always linked together? The Temple of Aprodita had 1000 temple prostitutes as part of their worship. The Temple of Apollos had nude statues of male prostitutes. Corinth was much like American culture today with sexual brokenness. When Paul walked into Corinth people were celebrating the Isthmian games which was the ancient Olympics. Corinth had athletic training centers much like Colorado Springs does today. The people of Corinth celebrated strength, independence, intellectualism, materialism and public debate. The Greek orator’s debated constantly. They all figured it out they did not need God! 1 Corinthians 2:3-5. Paul says I was not with you with enticing words of man’s wisdom but in demonstration of the spirit and of power. That our Faith should not stand in the wisdom of men but in the power of God! Can God raise up people in a corrupt culture? America is becoming more secular. Heathenistic cultures trump pleasure over purpose. The message of the Crucified Christ is not popular in America just as it was not in Corinth 2000 years ago! But it is still really good news! Polite people did not talk about the Cross in the 1st. century. The worst criminals were crucified. How do you message people about the Cross? The cross was cruel and ugly punishment. Jesus was tortured, beaten, bloodied and murdered! He died the lowest kind of death. It goes to say the Cross is foolishness to the perishing. Why did God choose death to redeem? The wages of sin is death! To the saved the Cross is the power of God! Are you grateful for the Cross? The Cross is central to belief. The Cross is entry to everything. The Cross destroys the wisdom of the wise! Intelligent people say that if God cannot answer all my questions then I will not follow him! My adopted son Abram is a very intelligent little boy. His grandfather was a nuclear physics engineer! Sometimes Abram will ask me questions that are deep and thoughtful. Sometimes I do not know the answer to his question. God came to save us and not answer all our questions. Corinth had some of the best minds of that era. They were intellectuals, philosophers, Romans, Greeks and Jews. Preaching Christ was foolish to the gentiles. The Jews expected a military Messiah. What do you want to hear? I want to be skinny and rich! American and Corinth cultures say “Blessed are the smart and the strong, Blessed are the ambitious, God helps those who help themselves!” Superman has arrived! It is me! Jesus said,”Blessed are the poor in spirit,meek,merciful and kind.” The Roman government of Corinth ruled by fear and intimidation like many governments do today. Why did Jesus submit to the tyranny of the Roman government and the Jews and go to the Cross? To show the world a new way to use power! The world uses power to rule over people. Watch an NFL game. Hundreds of millions of dollars spent to try to dominate one another! Competition is to fight for power! Dominate others! Get power to defend yourself! Buy armies and men and women to rule over others. When Pilate had Jesus on trial he told Jesus he had power to condemn Him to death or release Him. Jesus told Pilate I lay my life down and unless my Father gives you power you cannot touch me. Christ goes to the Cross to use power in a new way. Christ gave His life for people and not to rule over people! God has given us power for people in service to people and care for them. Jesus became a nobody to save everybody. Jesus is calling the marginalized and the down and out. Not to manipulate them but release them from the bondages of sin. The nobodies are being invited in. Discover a new way of being powerful. Everyone can belong! No disenfranchised! The Cross is where you start and finish. No substitute for the Cross! All must come to the Cross and believe! Source; Sermon notes taken from message given by Pastor Brady Boyd at New Life Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado. Message given on Sunday January 5, 2014.

Tribute To Captain David Lyons USAF 1985-2013

One of our very own Captain David Lyons was celebrated at the memorial service today in Colorado Springs at New Life Church. The military protocol was moving as hundreds of Air Force Academy Cadets and other military members attended the services along with New Life church members. Captain David Lyons was killed in action last month in Afghanistan by a suicide bomber. Other military members were killed and injured in the attack along with some NATO troops. David was a star athlete at the Air Force Academy and still holds the Idaho High School State record for the shot put throw. He was adopted and took on his adopted parents name. His wife Dana is also an Air Force Academy graduate and serves in the Air Force. It is so encouraging to see military members and church members support their fallen hero’s and their families. I want to give you a famous quote by Charles Province which was given at the memorial service. It reads as follows;” It is the Soldier, not the minister who gives us freedom of religion. It is the Soldier, not the reporter who gives us freedom of the press. It is the Soldier, not the poet who gives us freedom of speech. It is the Soldier, not the campus organizer who gives us freedom to protest. it is the Soldier, not the lawyer who gives us the right to a fair trial. It is the Soldier, not the politician who has given us the right to vote. It is the soldier who salutes the flag, Who serves beneath the flag, and Who’s coffin is draped by the flag!” Jesus said in John 15:13, “Greater love hath no man than this, That a man lay down his life for his friends!” The word friends translates from the Greek as neighbor. Remember in Mark Chapter 12 the scribes asked Jesus which is the greatest Commandment? Jesus answered, “”Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, soul, mind and strength. Then the second is to love thy neighbor as thyself. There is no greater Commandment than these!” David did lay down his life for his neighbor’s which represents millions of American’s and millions of people in Afghanistan! We must also recognize a distinction here. David laid down his life to save others! The suicide bomber laid down his life to destroy others! There are two separate eternities for each. There are two sides of the fence here. In one eternity David is joined with Christ the one he lived and died for! The suicide bomber who died to bring death to others is separated from God forever in the fires of hell! Two different outcomes created by two different choices! Choose this day who you will serve! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com

Who Can You Trust? Micah 7:5-7

These statements in verses 5 – 7 in Micah Chapter 7 made by Micah are reflected in the teaching of Christ to His disciples. (Matthew 10:35-37) Jesus was also showing how complete dedication to Him would bring about rejection from those close to you and even in your immediate family! The person who places family ahead of his or her service to Christ is called “unworthy.” (Matthew 10:38) The assurance is given by Micah that it is worthwhile to trust completely in God for salvation! Resting in Him is the only way to find peace, especially when a believer’s on family forsakes him or her. (Hebrews 13:5) A qualifier here is that you do not neglect, abuse or abandon your family in the Name of the Lord! I can remember when we left for India in 1984 for a 3 year commission I shared with my father that I heard from God and was sure of my calling and confirmed by other people. My father said you must have heard from the devil? I love my dad and he passed away about 4 years ago. I still love him. Point here is this comes with the calling of Christ in your life. People and family do not understand your calling and judge it prematurely! If you do not get resistance from family and others in ministry you are probably spiritually dead! Thankyou. James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com

Tribute To Vietnam War Veterans ! John 15:13

I graduated from high school in the summer of 1967. About 250 young men were being killed every week in Vietnam. I was ordered to report to my draft board in the summer of 1967. They asked me if I intended to go to college? They told me if I went to college 4 years and kept up my grades they would defer military service until after college. I thought this was strange? Should not everyone have to go as in previous wars? If you exempt some this will cause divisions in our culture! There is an old saying among my generation during the Vietnam war. It says the chickens went to college and the Eagles went to war! I decided to join the chickens. It was a big flock and plenty of bird brains in college during the war! Hundreds of new colleges sprung up all over America overnight with majors in basket weaving! To give exemptions to hundreds of thousands of college students was a big mistake! Any culture will be united if they are all making equal sacrifices in the war effort. I never demonstrated one day against the Vietnam war. If you play chicken the least you could do is support the Eagles! Things got worse! Martin Luther King assassinated in 1968 and then Bobby Kennedy! Race riots in every major city across America! The Tet offensive in Vietnam escalated the war. Our veterans returning from Vietnam were disrespected? At the end of the war with over 50000 killed and tens of thousands wounded what good can come out of this? Do not forget over 100000 Vietnam veterans commited suicide after coming home! In World war II everyone participated in the war effort! Vietnam veterans were just as courageous and exceptional in their service to our nation! History will show it was not the wrong war but the wrong approach to the war by our leaders. The same problem exists in our voluntary military today! Today only a small percentage of our population is involved in the war effort so most of the culture is disengaged from the war! Over the years I was always looking for something good out of the Vietnam war? Some think that the Berlin Wall coming down some 20 years later was due to financial expenditures the Soviets made fighting through proxy against us in Vietnam? As I watched several hours of combat film of the Vietnam war I began to see a pattern! As hundreds of helicopters picked up the dead and wounded American’s from the battle field I noticed the wounded who were still conscious were not concerned about their own wounds but concerned about their fellow comrades! They would say things like,”Who will protect my buddies if I am not there to defend them?” Who will help my brothers? Who will help them if I am not able? The Vietnam American veterans were not dying for a political philosophy or for the democratic or republican party! They were dying for each other! Jesus put it best in John 15:13 when he said,”Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” That was what Jesus did for you and all humanity! When you pass by a Vietnam veteran tell him, “Thankyou.” James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com

Santa Claus Has a New Home!

Yes! It is an abandoned Global Warming ship named Al Gore the II. It is a 50 ton ship stuck in 40 feet of ice. Santa E-mailed me yesterday with some interesting facts he learned as he read the Captain’s log book. His log indicates there were two reasons why the ship got stuck in the ice at the north pole. First reason was that the ship had Solyndra solar panels on the deck to power the ship. The sun does not shine up there for 3 months so that did not work. Interesting the Captain said in his log that when he looked under one of the solar panels they were made in China? The second reason was the ship has jet turbines to power it but there is a jet fuel shortage because Al Gore burns it all up flying around the world in his private jet giving speeches on global warming! Santa says the ship is abandoned but well stocked with supplies and it is his dream come true! Santa found 100 pair of sun glasses, 40 cases of sun tan lotion, 100 sets of bikinis, 100 inflatable beach balls and 20 cases of mosquito repellant. I told Santa early I need a set of dentures real bad for Christmas. Santa told me he finally got on the ObamaCare web site and ordered 10000 pair of dentures! Santa said the bad news was the shipment contained 10000 pacifiers! I told Santa do not worry when I vote in November that will be my pacifier! Merry Christmas. James. GodWhoisGod.com

2014 Prediction! Hebrews 13:8

The world changes! People change. Health changes. Finances change. Attitudes change. Economy changes. President’s change, Families change ( Divorce-remarriage). Weather changes. Pastor’s change. Church member’s change, Friends change. Laws change, Time changes. War changes. Taxes change, Technology changes, Nations change, ect. The News that never changes is the Good News as Paul says in Hebrews 13:8; “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever!” Christ is the only one who can give you stability and peace in this unpredictable world you live in! The God of 2013 is the same God of 2014 and on forever! Do not hang your hat on anything else but Him! He will never leave you or forsake you! Others will! Happiness depends on circumstances! Joy is a Gift given to us by God through His Son Jesus Christ! Have a Joyful New Year! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com

Micah Nails Down Place of His Birth! Micah 5: 1-2

Micah prophesized the Messiah’s birth place about 700 years before the event! The chief priest’s and scribes quoted it to Herod when they were asked where Christ was to be born. The prophet Isaiah had a lot of revelation about Christ hundreds of years before He came including birth, death and resurrection! It is interesting that the revelation of Christ was spread out among several old testament prophets. This is also true in the Body of Christ today! Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of all prophecy! He is the Chief Prophet and it says in Revelation 19:10, “Jesus Christ is the Spirit of Prophecy!” Remember Christmas is more than about His birth! Remember that during the future tribulation period (7 years), the religious ruler of the world (false prophet), will force the inhabitant’s of earth to worship the anti-Christ (World political ruler). If you have rejected Christmas and Christ then you have chosen to follow the false prophet and worship the false Christ or anti-Christ! This will lead to your destruction! Micah a old testament prophet prophesized the coming righteous and Holy Prophet and Savior who pre-existed time and created all things both visible and invisible! Christmas is not just a point in time and a place in time but all time and all history past, present and future revolves around Him! Merry Christmas! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com