Little Alice was told by her grandma early in her life that she was going to live a long life if she obeyed and listened to grandma! Grandma told Alice that in order to live a long life she needed to take 1/2 teaspoon of gun powder mixed with 8 ounces of water everyday for the rest of her life! Grandma finally passed away but she was 117 years old! Grandma never did anyone any harm while she lived on earth however when they ran her through the crematory she left a 500 foot deep crater where the crematory used to be! Never mess with grandma! Pastor Oscar Cope, Mount Vernon Baptist Church, Fairburn, Georgia.
Tag: pastor
Prayer! Matthew 21:13
Some people think that prayer means asking for things, and if they fail to receive exactly what they ask for, then they think the whole thing is a fraud! Gerald Vann (1906-1963), British Catholic Theologian, Author of 24 Books. Comment: Prayer is really fellowship with God! Fellowship with the Father through His Son! You remember some of Jesus words! Father forgive them for they know not what they do! Father if possible let this cup pass from me nevertheless not my will but Thy will be done! We can pray for the stuff but it will perish one day! I can pray for the sick which is good but they will die one day! The fellowship with our Father through Jesus will last forever! We pray expecting but according to the will of God! All Jesus disciples were martyred except John who was boiled in oil and sentenced to a slave labor camp stone quarry on the island of Patmos where he wrote the Book of Revelation! Some in the church today might think they were out of the will of God because they did not die rich with a lot of stuff? Success is more than stuff! The Gold Standard for success with God is to love others and sacrifice yourself for their benefit! What are our prayers like? Lord I am a sinner forgive me as my Savior! Lord forgive them and forgive me! Do we continue to fellowship and worship God through prayer in Heaven? What is Jesus doing right now in Heaven? He is interceding for the Saints here on earth! Satan has no prayer life and is separated from God! The Old Testament Hebrew word for prayer means to intercede for someone else! Jesus is following this pattern in Heaven today! One of the Greek words for prayer in the New Testament means to ask for a specific benefit from God! Send your Holy Spirit and dwell in me! Whatever the benefit it is to benefit others! Pray more for souls and less for stuff! What will be our prayer in Heaven? Praying for those here on earth! Why not start today? An American Pastor Charity and Ruth Harris ministered to us in a church in Denver Colorado back in the 1970’s for two years. They have spent over 40 years on the Mission field in Africa! They build hundreds of Tabernacle churches in the remote villages of Africa! Charity is now old in a nursing home legally blind. What is he doing today there? Praying for others including my family and preparing himself through prayer for Heaven! No one on earth can bestow a greater honor on you than to lift your name up to the Son and to the Father! Jesus said my House shall be called a House of prayer and not a den of thieves! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
Hebrews 11:1 Greek Translation
“To believe and act is the foundation for your expectation and desire that you have not seen yet.” Comment: We believe and act on what we trust! If we put our faith in the wrong things or people sin, guilt and fear will control us! A.B. Evans said this, “Faith is not a sense, nor sight, nor reason; but faith is taking God at His Word!” The words of people can be deceptive! Remember Satan told Eve surely God has not said this? Go ahead and eat this delicious looking fruit! There is only one of two voices we will hear and obey! Either God or Satan! All of us first listened to the voice of Satan! We were deceived like Adam and Eve! Sin, guilt and fear was the outcome! Sin was the outcome yet we still have an opportunity to listen and obey the voice of God! It is never too late! Remember the thief on the Cross? If you believe and act upon the Word of God through His Son Jesus Christ and confess your sin you will enter a new day being born again and experience God’s love! No longer in bondage to sin but free to serve God and love others! The choice is yours to make but it is a matter of life and death! Pastor Oscar Cope, Mount Vernon Baptist Church, Fairburn, Georgia.
Subterranean Retreat!
It sounds like a termite colony? The word is describing a time share property that has a lot of rooms, accommodations and permanent guests! It is a place where people are in agreement with each other! No debates about good and evil! However there is a lot of buyers remorse there! It is also described as the place of the dead! It is the Hebrew word “Shehole” (hole) from where we get our English word ‘Hell.” There are 31 verses in the Old Testament and 22 verses in the New Testament on this word. Funny of the Hebrew description is a subterranean retreat! It is interesting in the Greek of the New Testament there are four different words used! Will discuss later. So why bring this up? Every Pastor that prepares any sermon must consider two things! What are we saved from and what are we saved for? Most of the early fire and brimstone sermons of early America are gone? Heaven is not talked about much so what is left? The here and now! However the here and now is temporal! Heaven does begin here on earth after we receive Jesus Christ as Savior! Jesus talked more about the Kingdom of God than any other topic! If the reality of Heaven and Hell are not taught from the pulpit then people have a hard time understanding why they need to be saved? Saved from what and for what? James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
I Will Show You Where Heaven Is!
Billy Graham started his ministry by setting up tent crusades in small towns across America! Anything big is always started small. They came to this small town in the South and got permission to set up their tent on the local football field. Billy needed to go to the Post Office so he set out on foot to main street which was less than two blocks long! However he could not find the Post Office? This small little boy came walking down the street so Billy asked him where the Post Office was? The boy replied, “Mister go down to Bud’s General Store and the Post Office will be in the back of the store.” Billy Graham thanked the young man and then made him an offer that if he would come to the tent crusade tonight he would show him where Heaven was! The little boy replied, “No thankyou Mister for you don’t even know where the Post Office is?” Pastor Greg Laurie
Jesus is Watching You!
A burglar broke into a home late at night and climbed through a window with his flashlight and began going through the rooms looking for jewelry and cash! He was sure the family was out of the house? He came to the living room in the dark and began going through drawers looking for treasure! Suddenly this voice seemed to come out of nowhere and said, “Jesus is watching you!” He shined his flashlight around the room and saw nothing? Again the second and third time this voice spoke out into the darkness? The thief thought was he losing his mind from guilt or was Jesus really here? He again shined his flashlight across the room and to his relief was a parrot’s cage! However as he shined his light to the bottom of the stand of the cage he saw the white sparkling fangs of a large Pit Bull. The parrot cried out one last time, “Go get him Jesus!” Pastor Greg Laurie
Worship & Service! Luke 10:38-42
Jesus commended Mary for choosing the good part! Let us look at the Greek word good as used in this passage of scripture! It is Strongs #18. It means constitutionally good but not to benefit others! It means profitable! It means to derive an advantage from it. There is an opposite word used in the Greek for good! It is “Harmartano”, Strongs #264. It means to miss the mark or sin! Mary’s sister Martha was serving and wanted Mary to help! There is nothing wrong with serving because it benefits others! Remember Jesus said he who is greatest in the Kingdom of God is servant of all. However in this case we are talking about God being in your presence! Jesus was not putting Martha down but explained to her that Mary her sister recognized Jesus true value! Remember over in the Book of Luke Mary spent nearly a year’s wages on the perfume to anoint Jesus body for burial. Judas put her down for it! How we value people and things is very important! If we are not careful we can overvalue things and undervalue people! If we undervalue God then nothing else we ever value will help us! Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and He will add to us what is needed! Did you value your father and mother today? Did you value your Pastor today? Did you pray for him? I recently stayed in a wealthy man’s house. He is a good man but when I asked him the name of his Pastor he did not know? If we do not value what is most valuable then it becomes sin! Like Martha serve Him but more important like Mary worship Him! Get in His presence! One second in Jesus presence will start a fire in your soul that will glow forever! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
Juvenile Delinquent!
Little Sally was a 7th grader who did well in school and obeyed her parents! She was searching on the internet for dress shoes and she found a pair she fell in love with! She would spend hours dreaming of owning these beautiful shoes! She found a shoe shop in the Mall near her that carried these shoes! So mommy and Sally went shopping for other things in the Mall that day. When they walked by the shoe store Sally told mom she wanted to show a pair of shoes that would be perfect for her! Sally showed mommy the shoes however the price tag was $200 dollars! Mommy told Sally we could not afford the price for these shoes! Sally looked at her mommy through her tears and said, “”Mommy if you could not afford me why did you have me?” Pastor Oscar Cope, Mount Vernon Baptist Church, Fairburn, Georgia.
Last Supper 1 Corinthians 11:24-25 (Greek Translation)
Verse 24; “And when Jesus had prayed over the meal and broke and divided the bread He said, “Take eat; this is my human body which is broken for you, this do in remembrance, in recollection, in repetition, to know again and recall of me.” Verse 25; “After the same manner Jesus took the cup after the evening meal and said, “This cup is new which is not impaired by time or use and is a divisor will in my atoning blood and as often as you drink it come to know me again.” Comment: Why do we take Communion? The Lord has instituted it according to His Word! Human nature tends to forget! When we honor someone it is usually in memory of the past. However the Hebrews or the Jews have a very different perception of the word remembrance! The Jews look at the word remembrance as his presence is still with us! At the Seder meal the Jews have an empty chair seated for Elijah! Jesus is with us today! I will never leave you nor forsake you! Remember Jesus has set the Communion Table before you as an invited quest! Your sin required the Table be set! You did not pay anything for the Table or the meal. You were invited even though you were unworthy! Jesus is personally sharing a meal with you! He is present with you! Why would you turn down a meal you did not pay for and did not deserve and made no sacrifice for? This meal purchased your freedom from sin, death and Hell yet you will not partake? His broken body and shed blood remind us that the Cross was very costly to God and His Son for the redemption of your spirit, soul and body! Pastor Oscar Cope, Mount Vernon Baptist Church, Fairburn, Georgia.
Are You a Minister? 1 Chronicles 16:4
King David appointed these ministers to serve before the Ark of God! They were to record and give thanks to the God of Israel. They were to write down their experiences and record them! That is how we got our Bible! Notice they were appointed by a higher authority! They were not self-appointed! You can never be in authority unless you are under authority! The word minister used here in the Hebrew means to serve a higher rank! Much like in the military. An example would be Joseph managing all the affairs of Potiphers house. Not his wife’s affairs! So who is the General or highest rank? God Himself! If you examine God in the scriptures we find that He is also a servant! Who is the lowest rank? Satan yet because of sin he runs most of the world! You should not serve him because all of creation out ranks him including the snake! Jesus exposed the good nature of a servant when he said he who is greatest in the Kingdom of God is servant of all. You will discover in the New Testament that the word minister and servant come from the same Greek word, “diakonos.” This definition can range from a waiter of tables to running errands to a teacher or a Pastor! Satan is not a servant! In fact he enslaves people so they do his bidding! God gives but Satan takes! God has given us life but Satan has taken life through death! So we have givers and takers! Our Bible says give and it will be given to you pressed down and overflowing! It also says the wages of sin is death! Remember we minister to the highest rank when we serve others! God will enable us to do this if we will humble ourselves! Pride will cause us to want to be served! Two different attitudes with two different outcomes! As Easter is approaching let us remember God sacrificed Himself for us! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com