Wednesday Nights

I am very excited for the next two Wednesday nights.  I will be speaking in The Stand Youth worship service and JD Elleman will be leading the adult prayer time.  Come to church on Wednesday night expecting God to move, expecting him to touch your mind and spirit, and allowing him to transform us for expanded blessing.

Share Vision

If you have a big goal in life, there are special keys to seeing that goal become reality.  One key is sharing the vision.  Sharing your vision is important and strategic for several reasons.

1.  It makes you accountable.
Sharing your vision forces you to feel the pressure of keeping your word.  Nobody wants to talk and talk and never get anything done.  It happens a lot, but nobody of normal intelligence and mental health is happy with talk, talk, talk.

2.  It allows others to be involved.
Most great things are accomplished by a motivated group with a good leader.  A good leader alone is unlikely to accomplish amazing things that have a global or regional impact.  Having others involved also creates connections for improvement, and opportunities for others to assist with work or funding.

3.  It makes you sharper.
Sharing your vision will often sharpen and refine your plans.  Others input may help.  Also, we often have ideas that seem good in our minds, then when we verbalize them we realize how far off they really are.

Lastly, there is a caution.  There may be some dream killing negative people that you don't want to share your vision with.  There is a place for honest critique, but some people are negative about everything and they might not be the people to share with.

Pray hard and think deeply about your dreams.  Don't be afraid to share your dreams, even if you don't have all the answers or the details.

Tired on Purpose

I am feeling very pressed this week.  Our entire staff is working like crazy!  We have very little time this week.  But, we are wearing ourselves out for great reasons.  First, we are getting some building preparatory stuff done.  Second, Pastor John is preparing for a strong push for Small Groups in 2013, and his outreach at 5th Street Elementary School.  Third, I am working hard on some church planting projects, business meeting preparations and helping in the Section.

It is at times like this that I love being in God's work.

Please keep your church leaders in prayer.

We need you to pray for us like never before.  The needs of the lost are urgent, and the Lord has opened a door of effective ministry for us.

Messy

Ministers are expected to have it all together.  People expect your office to be clean when they walk in and mine never is!  It is a constant frustration for me.  Part of my problem is have no storage space at all.  Recently I met with a person that is extremely valuable to me and who I have and will spend a great amount of time with because I want to help them.  Unfortunately, they tracked in a bunch of mud.  Well, its not the first time this has happened.

But, as I spent the first 30 minutes of my day today scrubbing the mud out of the carpet, I was really mad.  I was thinking of other pastors who always have nice neat offices.  How do they do that?  Do they just tell messy people they are not invited to enter the office?  Or, do they spend a ton of time cleaning their carpet?  I really started imagining myself being totally honest with a person and telling them not to come in because they are tracking mud all over.  Well, that little daydream seemed to have bad overtones and in all the rabbit trails of my mind, it always ended poorly.

So, I just scrubbed out my frustration and determined that people are more important than the image of my office.  I am typing now, and will be getting back to further cleaning in a moment.

15 days are 50% Spent

We are at the half mark of our 15 days of prayer and fasting.  I am so thrilled personally with the extra time with God this week.  It is refreshing to my spirit and attitude.  Extra time with God make you feel like a winner!

Don't give up or back down this week.  On the contrary, let's press forward.  What little things can you add in the upcoming week to make your fast more productive and pleasing the the Lord?  Lets finish strong in prayer.

Remember to pray for the needs of the church.  Your prayers are deeply needed this year!  Today I encourage you to pray for the staff of the church and those who serve your children and teens in ministry.

15/15/13

We are praying and fasting with our kids in our fifteen days of prayer and fasting.  The kids are fasting their wii.  That includes games and watching videos.  Each afternoon in addition to our morning devotions we are praying and each of the kids are reading from a book of the bible of their choosing.

15/15/13 is our motto.  Fifteen minutes extra time with God for fifteen days in 2013.  They are pretty excited and I am glad that they seem to genuinely enjoy reading their Bibles.

As you pray this week, keep praying for our construction plans to be completed!  They are quite behind at this point, but we seem to be at the mercy of those drawing up the plans.  We also need to pray for favor with the City in reviewing the plans for our building permit.  We need expediency.

While you lift up needs, remember to allow God to draw you closer to him.  More important than any of our felt needs is our need for closeness to the Lord.  Have a blessed day.

15 Days for 13

Happy New Year!  Today is day two of 15 days of prayer and fasting for 2013.  I hope you have determined what you will fast.  We fast to make time for extra prayer.  Here are some prayer requests.

1.  Pray for the three phase vision of our church that we shared again this last Sunday.
2.  Pray for the construction process at the new property.
3.  Pray for financial provision for our church and for every household in our church.
4.  Pray for spiritual health in every believer and for new friends to come to follow Jesus.
5.  Pray for our Missions Convention that starts tonight!

As you pray, I believe that you will also have the opportunity to be refreshed in your life.  God is not hard to find!  As Acts 17 promises, "...he is not far from each one of us."

Keep Praying

I encourage you to keep praying for the people in Newtown, and Sandy Hook Elementary School today.  As Christians and as a nation we need to pray for our neighbors and help them in a very distressing time.

Dating Sermon Notes

Dating for a Divorce

 

I want to begin with a question.

“What is God’s purpose for you regarding marriage?”

 

In our society today, there is a great deal of damage that we are doing to marriage by the way that we handle dating.

I believe that dating today is divorce practice.

Does the Scripture Give Direction About

Who To Marry?

The Bible will not tell you the name and hair color of your future spouse, but it does give direction.

Do Not Be Unequally Yoked.  (2 Corinthians 6:14)

Do Not Marry into Adultery.  (Mark 10:1-10 and Mathew 19:1-10)

Do Not Marry a Violent Person.  (Malachi 2:16)

Do Not Marry an Alcoholic.  (Proverbs 23:20-21 and 29-32)

 

What Can I Do to Make My

Future Marriage Magnificent?

Be the kind of Christian you want to be married to in the future.

Be the strong, helpful person you are looking for in a spouse.

Be the Kind of Person that will attract the person you are looking for.

Be aware of the family you will be joining.

Be willing to seek Godly counsel for your future marriage.

Evangelistic Dating?

What is evangelistic dating?  It is dating someone who is not in a close relationship with God in hopes that they will develop a close relationship with God through being with you, the "committed believer."

Here are some problems with the plan of evangelistic dating.
1.  When the dating relationship ends so does any relationship with God.  I have never seen a person continue at any church that I have ever served in 19 years of ministry through evangelistic dating.
2.  When the break up occurs, often there is unrest and difficulties in other relationships in a church or youth group.  Unrest destroys the mission of the church in loving each other and reaching the lost.
3.  People who are evangelistic daters almost never bring a visitor to church who is of the same sex.  There is something really creepy (psychologically unhealthy) about girls who can't make friends with girls and a guy that can't make friends with guys to bring them to Christ.
4.  Leading a person to Christ is about loving them unconditionally.  That unconditional love is what brings you to the next step.  The goal of evangelism is not just getting a person in the church once a week.  The goal is a relationship in the family of God.  The strings attached to dating make that unconditional love that you must commit to a person to reach and keep them for Christ almost impossible.
5.  Finally and foremost!  The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 6:14, "Do not be yoked together with unbelievers..."  That does not mean that we are not friends with or love people outside of our faith family.  It means that when we are looking for an close dependable relationship, like a date, spouse, business partner, or roommate, we should find a person who shares our passions and passion for Jesus.

Dating for a Divorce

Sunday the message was, "Dating for a Divorce."  In our society today, we train for divorce by having dating relationships where people tag their feelings as love.  Furthermore, these relationships are often sexually active relationships.  Then when something goes wrong, the two break up.  So in dating, people learn to fall in love, often being sexually active, and then learn to fall out of love and love someone else very easily.

Today in my regular devotions, I read about King Solomon who was led astray from obeying the Lord by his love for many wives.  If Solomon, who was given wisdom and intelligence from God, was led astray by his romantic emotions, what are we up against?

Honestly, I am concerned that people heard the message on dating yesterday and understood it and believe it.  But, no one will heed it because people are so quickly and easily led astray by their emotions when they are not daily taking in the Word of God and trusting him.

Today, Stephanie is posting the podcast at www.firstagwashington.org.  Go to media and you can listen to the message again.  If you did not get an outline, get one Wednesday night, or get it from this blog.  I challenge you to read every Scripture in the message for yourself this week.  The way to overcome emotions is the Spirit of God and the Word of God.

Judegment Begins

Judgment Begins

Let me begin today by saying two things.

1.  I want to recognize our veterans today.

2.  I want to wish you all a happy Thanksgiving.  Thanksgiving is important.  It is a holiday with Biblical values and traditions that are wholesome.

But, today I am compelled to preach on something other than thanksgiving.

On November 6^th our nation voted for our president.  Several things in this election were historic.

Most importantly, we had no candidate to choose who had a Biblical View of Jesus Christ.  We have in the past had Presidents who had wrong views of God, but not to this degree in the past.  Both men are Biblically wrong.

-President Obama is a part of a denomination that believes the Bible to be filled with errors that need to be fixed by scholars, science and psychology.  In that denomination, there is no requirement to believe in Jesus Deity, his Virgin birth, or even his bodily resurrection.  This denomination also allows its ministers to teach that Muslims, Buddhist, and Hindus and even good people of no religion can have eternal life.  Thus, what he personally believes about Jesus and salvation is likely very unbiblical.  Furthermore, this denomination in one that presses its members to forcefully advance the homosexual rights agenda and Ordains, all types of gay, lesbian and bi-sexual individuals.

-Our other option was Mitt Romney.  As a Republican, he stands with the party platform that holds to some Biblical values such as being pro-life, pro-Israel, and pro-traditional marriage.  However, as a Mormon, Governor Romney does not believe in the Jesus, or God, of the Bible either.  Mormons believe that our heavenly Father was once a man like us, who ascended to God status along with his wife.  They together have produced the human race.  A good Mormon has hopes of being married in a Mormon Temple to secure an eternal marriage, make it to Heaven, Ascend to God status and create a universe or creation of their own that they will populate as our God did.  Mitt Romney, if he is a solid Mormon, does not believe in an eternal God, and hope that he will become God one day in the Heaven he may be granted.

Now I know that many evangelical Christians may have voted for Mitt Romney.  I also know that many liberal Methodists, liberal Presbyterians, members of the United Church of Christ and liberal Baptists such at the Carnahans, Clintons and Gores who no longer believe in the inerrancy of the Bible, along with Biblically illetarat Catholics voted for our President.  So, those who claim Christ in the United Sates were DIVIDED.

Might I suggest to you, that in the eyes of God two things happened in this election.

1.  God is more concerned with what Bible believing Evangelicals do with the doctrines of Mormonism and its once human god than we had assumed.

1 Chronicles 16:36
Blessed be the LORD God of Israel From everlasting to everlasting! And all the people said, “Amen!” and praised the LORD.
Psalm 41:13
Blessed be the LORD God of Israel From everlasting to everlasting! Amen and Amen.
Psalm 90:2
Before the mountains were brought forth, Or ever You had formed the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.
Psalm 103:17
But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting On those who fear Him, And His righteousness to children’s children,
Psalm 106:48
Blessed be the LORD God of Israel From everlasting to everlasting! And let all the people say, “Amen!” Praise the LORD!

2.  God has released our nation to its own lusts and desires, which is the greatest from of judgment upon a nation.
Romans 1:18-32
¹⁸ For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, ¹⁹ because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. ²⁰ For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, ²¹ because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. ²² Professing to be wise, they became fools, ²³ and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.

²⁴ Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, ²⁵ who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

²⁶ For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. ²⁷ Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.

²⁸ And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; ²⁹ being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality,^[c] wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, ³⁰ backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, ³¹ undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving,^[d] unmerciful; ³² who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.

If we as a nation continue in the path that we are upon, it is clear that we will fall under God’s judgment.  I do not know when that judgment will begin.  But, here are some signs of judgment that God sent to Israel in the Bible that we might watch for.

1.  Lack of rain.  In the days of Elijah.

2.  Great natural disasters......one after the other.
3.  Economic selfishness.....and depression.  In the days of Ahab and Jeremiah.
4.  A lack of safety at our borders.  The entire book of Judges.
5.  A lack of security against small marauding and attacking bands.  Book of Judges.
6.  Internal political difficulties......that paralyze good decision making.  For instance in the days of King Rehoboam, when the nation was split in two, and Amon assassinated among others.

And again, I do not know when that judgment will begin.  As we see things Biblically, there are times when a nation will have judgment from God delayed for as much as four generations.

So, we may not see the full extent of God’s judgment upon us in our lives, but then again, we might.  God’s judgment upon Jerusalem in the New Testament times which was foretold by Jesus was finished in AD 70, just 40 years into the life of the new born Church.

So, if judgment is on the way, how will we know and where will it begin?  The answer is in the Word of God!

1 Peter 4:12-19
¹² Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; ¹³ but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. ¹⁴ If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.^[d] On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified. ¹⁵ But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or as a busybody in other people’s matters. ¹⁶ Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter.^[e]

Essentially, Peter is addressing persecution.  If you suffer for Christ stand up under it.  If you suffor for doing good you will be rewarded.  But don’t complain if your are suffering for your dumb and foolish errors you brough t upon yourself.

¹⁷ For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God? ¹⁸ Now
“If the righteous one is scarcely saved,
Where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?”^[f]
19 Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator.

Did you catch that!  Where will judgment begin?

“At the house of God.”

The NIV says, “it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God”

How have we seen this principal in action?

1.  In the OT, judgment came to Egypt, Moab, Tyre, Sidon, and many other nations that Isaiah and Ezekiel prophesied against.  But it started with Israel.
2.  In the NT, judgment begins with the Church!

Revelation depicts seven churches in Asia that may fall under the judgment of God for veering from the Lord.  Before the tribulation of the Jews and the wicked world, the seven churches are judged and some are found wanting or lacking!

In the Scriptures, the judgment of God begins with the people of God.

Why?

1.  Because we might be the first to listen to God and repent.
2.  Because we know the Word the best and should be able to respond the fastest.
3.  Because God is faithful to his word and will show his love to a thousand generations of those that love him and is not willing to put his own people to shame.

So, how do we know if we are falling under judgment?

1.  God gives us over to do what we want.  Remember Romans 1.
2.  God removes his Holy Spirit’s presence.
                -We no longer feel his convicting pressure and pain.
                -We no longer have passion to do his work in his power.
                -We go through the motions of church and avoid the spiritual parts as much as possible.
3.  We develop the inability to self regulate.
                -Christians begin to struggle with lust.
                -Addictions appear and re-appear.
                -Stress begins to overwhelm God’s people.
4.  Finally, in our state of sin, our lack of the Holy Sprit’s presence to guide, and our inability to self regulate, we re-interpret the Scriptures to fit our new lifestyle.

So, what shall we, the Church of America do?

John the Baptist said to the believing Jews,

 “Repent...
Produce fruit in keeping with repentance...
“The man with two tunics should share with him who has none, and the one who has food should do the same....
“Don’t extort money and
don’t accuse people falsely—
be content with your pay.”
And then John preached a promise! “The one coming after me...will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.”

And the Old Testament foretold the results!!!!!

“A voice of one calling in the desert,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for him.
⁵ Every valley shall be filled in,
every mountain and hill made low.
The crooked roads shall become straight,
the rough ways smooth.
⁶ And all mankind will see God’s salvation.’”^[a]

Paul says about judgement, “If we judge ourselves, we will not fall under judgement.”

Jesus said to, “Seek first His Kingdom and his righteousness...”

He did not say seek his kingdom and his promises, or his kingdom and his peace, or his kingdom and his prosperity, or his kingdom and his joy, or his kingdom and his power, or his kingdom and his glory.

It is time once again for us to rise up in faith and seek the righteousness of God in our lives!

Jesus said, seek his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.”

Let’s Pray.

 

The Taunt of the Enemy

Deuteronomy 32:27 says, "...but I dreaded the taunt of the enemy, lest the adversary misunderstand and say, 'Our hand has triumphed; the Lord has not done all this.'"

The taunt of your enemy, the Devil, is to say, "...the Lord has not done all this."  You may have experienced a miracle or a great gift from God recently.  The Devil is trying to impress upon your mind the idea that the Lord did not really do what you have been excited about.  The Devil will tempt you to doubt God's work in your life.  He may try to explain away a miracle.  He will try to convince you that your salvation experience was just a psychological thing in your head.

Keep trusting the Lord and his Word.  Later in chapter 32 God says about his Word, "They are not just idle words for you - they are your life.  By them you will live long in the land..."  Don't give in to the enemy's taunts.

Birthday Dinner

Steph and I just set our fall birthday dinner for 2012.  Our kids love this annual event that is near all our kids birthdays because it is when we set our life goals for the year.  The boys will be 10 and they already have some goals ready for the list.  It is really exciting to see our kids learn to organize themselves to accomplish great things.

New Building Update

September 27th we closed on our new building property.  It is a 25,000 square foot building on 1.5 acres.  We had Sunday service in it on October 21st.  It was absolutely wonderful!  Monday and Tuesday, October 29 and 30, we demolished the partition walls and took three and one half dump trailer loads of sheet rock to the dump.

We are working on engineering plans at this time and look forward to their completion.  Our goal is to get a set of plans before Thanksgiving and have permits for work to start on December 1st.

Huge thanks go to Tim Willard, Louis and Pat Todd, Pastor John, Stephanie Scheperle, Mike Holden and Jeff Kohler who worked an entire day on the demolition and clean up Tuesday.  Several others worked in the late afternoon and really helped some tired people with the cleaning.

Keep praying.  We are moving forward.