Tag: pastor

Holy Smoke!

You can sing all you want about how you love Jesus, you can have crocodile tears in your eyes, but the consecration that does not reach your purse has not revealed your heart. Pastor Adrian Rogers (1931-2005) Comment: If I tell you I trust Jesus Christ with my eternal life but not with my tithes and offerings I am blowing smoke but not sacrificial Holy Smoke! James Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com

Church Growth & Decline! II Chronicles Chapters 6-7

Mary pondered these things in her heart! Do we ponder the things of God? His House? A church that was once strong and powerful fades away into history? Solomon built the most beautiful Temple for God in history! Solomon had so much wealth given to him! The Queen of Sheba gave him 4 tons of gold for a gift! Solomon did not spend on himself but invested it into the building of the Temple! The Jews made sacrifices to construct the Temple! Solomon asked God for wisdom but God gave him both wisdom and riches! Riches outside the will and purpose of God will come to nothing! After Solomon and many years passed the Temple declined and was destroyed and the Jews went into captivity! Why do some churches fail while others prosper? What series of events cause these opposite outcomes? We must see life God’s way and not our own way! Solomon took the wealth God had given him and invested it into the Temple for worship! God gave the provisions! The church began and the people gave their best! We see from the recorded scriptures here the people prayed and God heard their requests and acted upon them! He bless their cause and work! At the end of Solomon’s prayer God was pleased and fire came down from Heaven and the sacrifice was consumed! What was going right in the Temple! People were obedient to leadership! It was more than just the ornaments of gold silver and jewels! Something was going on inside the Temple! Fire came down and the Lord’s House was filled with His Glory! His mercy endures forever! Solomon built a place where people could bring the sacrifices! God confirmed the blessings with his presence! God has chosen this place for himself! The power of faithfulness and obedience! God heard their prayers! If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves………! We will hear from Heaven! Revival! Times of refreshing! Heart’s right with God! Eyes opened! New revelation! Examine ourselves! Meet God! Who is your God? God is not the reason for a declining church! People have forgotten who they are in Christ! Lost favor of God! Lost sense of purpose! Focus on themselves! No witness of God to the community! Forsaken the God of our Father’s! Calamity follows! God moves out and the world moves in! Secularism! Return to the Lord! He will hear from heaven! He will heal with church growth! Now I must ask you a personal question? Have you given any sacrifice to God that he can consume? When God consumes your sacrifice his presence is manifested in his House! No sacrifice no consumption and no presence! No God in the House! Empty! Christ’s sacrifice caused God to consume Jesus completely with His manifested Glory! Miracles left and right! Are tithes and offerings too much sacrifice for you? Are ministries into your community too much for you? Prison ministry? Hospital and nursing home visits too much for you? Without your sacrifice he has nothing to work with! Do not waste your sacrifice on the world! Your effort will be lost forever! Have faith in God and trust him! You will never be disappointed! When the leadership and people stop sacrificing the ministry declines! When they begin to sacrifice the ministry grows! Pastor Ron Wilder, Mount Vernon Baptist Church, Fairburn, Georgia.

Signs of Cultural Decline! Isaiah 5:20

Jesus said persecution will come to you if you are a follower of Christ! Many places in the world Christian martyrdom is common! However in America the assault is growing on Christian’s! Here are the steps that lead to persecution in any culture! What was once celebrated is now condemned! Some examples? Crosses, traditional marriage between a man and a woman! Bibles! Ten Commandments! American Flag! Patriotism! Legal immigration! Borders! Nationalism! Military service! Sodomy laws! Sunday worship! Free speech! Right to bare arms! Prayer in schools! Free press! Visual displays of Christ! Verbal expressions of Christ in the public places! Litigation and fines against those that support traditional values! Social media blocking of Christian content on Facebook, Google and other media forms! So if you condemn what the Bible has expressed as evil then you will not celebrate the condemned then you will be condemned by the culture politically, socially and judiciously! Pastor Robert Jeffress, Pathway to Victory.

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

Cloudless Harps! Revelation 21:1-27

In the new heaven and earth there will be no sanctuary, temple or church! Yes unemployed Rabbi’s, Priest’s and Pastor’s! There will be no sun and no moon! Jesus is the light of the world! Remember at creation? Let there be light! No night there! No clouds there! We reflect the light of Jesus as the moon reflects the light of the sun! No sickness in heaven! No hospital’s, no doctor’s, no nurses, no pharmacy, no x-ray machines, no MRI scanners and no chemo therapy! No sadness in heaven! No more tears! No tears of wasted lives! No tears of pre-mature death! No tears for suicides! No graves! No undertaker’s! No cemetery! No stone cutter’s! No wreath maker’s! Also no separation in heaven! No more farewell parties at the airport! No crying for departed loved ones! No more sea of separation! Remember the Apostle John who wrote this Book of Revelation? He was imprisoned on the island of Patmos surrounded by a sea! He longed to be with the seven Churches but was imprisoned as a slave laborer in a marble stone quarry! No prison’s in heaven! No more condemnation in heaven! I will pray for you but the reason for all your problems is because of sin! No prayer in heaven! Last no more sin in heaven! No military, no police departments, no FBI. no CIA, no NSA. The unrepentant sinners will be separated from heaven in the Lake of Fire! No dirty words spoken in heaven! No disobedient thoughts and actions! No acts of revenge from unrepentant sinners expressed in violence! Yes, cloudless harps! We will be in constant praise to our King in heaven! Sound boring? Then try the Lake of Fire where the worm never dies and the fire is never quenched! You cannot have one foot in heaven and one foot in hell? You have a choice as long as you have breath! Do not delay and default to hell. A choice not for Jesus is a choice for hell. Pastor David Jeremiah. Note; The wife of Pastor David Jeremiah is the great granddaughter of D.L. Moody!

Love of Money! Ecclesiastes 5:11-17

This is what happens to those who love money more than God! The following are the five characteristics of people who are in love with money; 1. The more they have the more they want. 2. The more they have the more they spend. 3. The more they have the more they worry. 4. The more they have the more they lose. 5. The more they have the more they have to leave behind. Pastor David Jeremiah Comment: Solomon was the richest man that has ever lived on the earth! He had 700 hundred wives and 300 concubines or girl friends! If anyone knew the deception of wealth he knew! Learn from him who had it all but in the end he said it was all vanity! That is to no purpose! Jesus said the love of money is the root of all evil. I admire Pastor Jeremiah for his transparency in taking a Biblical stand on money, sex, Heaven and Hell. He is not a politically correct politician in the pulpit! He has my respect! Jesus offended the rich but had compassion on the poor! Judas lost his soul because of a love for money! Jesus told the rich man after he bragged to him how he keeps the law perfectly that he lacked one thing! Give all you have to the poor and come and follow me! But the rich man went away sad because his possessions had him! They owned him! Do not hang on to what you cannot keep! The way to keep money from owning you is to give it away! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com

New World Order? Daniel 8:25

From the Tower of Babel to the United Nations man has made many efforts to form a one world government with the deceptive promise of peace! Here is a quote from the Book of Daniel about the Anti-Christ the future ruler of the one world government: “He will cause deceit to prosper, and he will consider himself superior. When they feel secure, he will destroy many and take his stand against the Prince of princes. Yet he will be destroyed but not by human power.” Here is another quote by C.S. Lewis: “It does not matter how you rearrange the rotten eggs you still get a bad omelette!” The Millennium will feature Jesus Christ ruling as a one world leader in perfect peace because He is the Prince of Peace! Pastor David Jeremiah

Old versus New!

The Old and New Testament are on the same page! They compliment each other! You see the old in the new and new in the old! Here is an interesting quote from and Pastor out of India: “In the Old Testament the shepherd prepared the lambs for a sacrifice of worship but in the New Testament the shepherd prepared Himself as the sacrifice for the sheep! The only sacrifice that would be enough to atone for our sin! The only sacrifice that would please the Father! Now our worship is acceptable to God through His only Son Jesus Christ! Jesus rejected by men is accepted by the Father in Heaven! The son’s of men now have the opportunity to live for Him serving God and man! A sacrifice by love to worship our King! Words of Praise from mortal men to the Word of God fulfilled in flesh!” Pastor Jestin, Madurai India