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“Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more.” Rom. 5:20
I have a few questions to ask you. Please think clearly. How strong is God’s grace? What can stop it from working? Whose sin abounded? Who’s grace abounded more?
The Bible clearly says we are saved by grace through faith. Grace is God’s electrical service that powers our lives. Faith is the switch that opens the path into our life.
The electricity that turns on the light in your home is always there. It does not wait at the electric company for you to call. The electricity itself does not have your name on it. It is just there for you to use when you turn on the switch. That is the way it is with God’s grace. The bill has been paid, once for all. The company(Jesus) takes care of making sure power is always available.
Can sin stop the power of God’s grace from reaching you? No. If sin could stop God’s grace, Jesus would never have died for us to begin with. “While we were yet sinners, Christ died for the ungodly”. The sin that abounded was ours. The grace that abounded more was God’s. If you had no sins you would need no grace. If sin can stop God’s grace we are all doomed to hell. The truth is that sin doesn’t stop grace, it activates it. Can dirt stop soap? Does soap only clean “unintentional” dirt? Or, does it clean even when we got dirty on purpose?
Psalm 103 has been called David’s “Hallelujah Chorus.” In this Psalm we are given many benefits of the redeemed–benefits which are presented as reasons to praise the Lord.
Victory over any negative circumstance is not far away when we begin to bless the Lord and remember all His benefits: we are redeemed, forgiven, healed, and given a vigorous and satisfying life in the Lord Jesus Christ. Focus your thoughts on God’s strength and pwoer and recognize that the invincible God is moving on your behalf. You can live in joy and security, knowing that the Lord will never let you down–remember He is the Almighty God. —Marilyn Hickey
Psalm 103:1-7 (Message Bible)
O my soul, bless God. From head to toe, I’ll bless his holy name!
O my soul, bless God, don’t forget a single blessing!
-He forgives your sins–every one.
-He heals your diseases–every one.
-He redeems you from hell–saves your life!
-He crowns you with love and mercy–paradise crown.
-He wraps you in godness–beauty eternal.
-He renews your youth–you’re always young in his presence.
God makes everything come out right; he puts victims back on their feet.
V. 17 God’s love, though, is ever and always, eternally present to all who fear him,
Making everything right for them and their children as they follow his Covenant ways
and remember to do whatever he said.
It was “that close”. Missed it by “that much”. “It was just around the corner”. Do these remarks sound familiar? How many times did we “miss out” because of a narrow margin? It is hard to deal with “almost”.
But, what happens when we start the game with two strikes against us to begin with? When something seems doomed from the start and you grasp at straws, can your faith see a way out? It does not matter what the circumstances are you cannot count yourself out and throw in the towel.
If I were to tell you your problem will be solved tomorrow, don’t worry, would you believe it? I think it would depend on how bad you thought your situation was. If it is so bad you nor those around you can see any chance, can it be solved tomorrow? How bad does it have to get until there is no hope? Can certain death be turned into life overnight?
Check out the story in II Kings chapter 7. You might be surprised what God can do.
Psalm 118 was a great psalm that was sung following the Passover meal. Nearly a century after the return of the Jewish people to Palestine, Nehemiah engineered the reconstruction of the walls around Jerusalem in 52 days. This psalm was sung, a victory chant. Here at New Life the walls are being rebuild around our church and our pastor by your prayers. In the 52 days of reconstruction of the wall they worked 24 hours a day to get it completed. Keep praying–God is doing the rebuilding.
Psalm 118:3-17 (Message Bible)
Pushed to the wall, I called to God, from the wide open spaces, he answered.
God’s now at my side and I’m not afraid; who would dare lay a hand on me?
God’s my strong champion; I FLICK OFF MY ENEMIES LIKE FLIES.
Far better to take refuge in God than trust in people.
Far better to take refuge in God than trust in celebrities.
Hemmed in by barbarians, in God’s name I RUBBED THEIR FACES IN THE DIRT;
Hemmed in and with no way out, in God’s name I RUBBED THEIR FACES IN THE DIRT.
Like swarming bees, like wild prairie fire, they hemmed me in;
In God’s name I RUBBED THEIR FACES IN THE DIRT.
I was right on the cliff-edge, ready to fall, when God grabbed and held me.
God’s my strength, he’s also my song, and now he’s my salvation.
Hear the shouts, hear the triumph songs in the camp of the Lord? (at New Life)\
“The hand of God has turned the tide! The hand of God is raised in victory!
The hand of God has turned the tide!” I didn’t die. I lived.!!!!
Hello Brother Gerald,
I want to share something that has been in my spirit starting the weekend we were with you. I have never done anything like this before and I have asked God to remove the images from my spirit for several days but they continue so I will just tell you what I see and hear and hopefully you can sift through it and find something of value. Ray and I love you and your family and church so much. We want the very best for you. We admire you and LaVerne so much and desire to emulate the ministry heart we see in you.
I keep hearing in my spirit, “It is time to be impassioned and to rebuild. It is time to remember the day the new sanctuary was laid out on paper and the vision for its use was fresh in your mind and heart and in the people’s hearts. The people are to rise up and build. This time not a physical structure but the True Church. The time for marking time and getting by are over. The Spirit of God is preparing to breathe over your region. The people have become weary because they have allowed their eyes to be filled with loss and defeat rather than God’s unchanging love and purpose. I keep hearing put yesterday behind you. This new day in which you are standing is filled with possibilities and power just waiting to be accessed. I hear you have felt that you ran your best race in the past and that there is now not enough strength to run again. But I hear that the Spirit is about to breathe upon you in a way that will ignite every cell in your body with purpose. HE says to me that in your area people can not hear a more sure word of God than they can from your lips. HE says prepare each message as if it were being cast to the thousands because that is the impact it will have in the lives of those who hear it. HE says remember, remember, the vigor you previously had as it is awaking in you again. HE says the best is ahead of you and that that is not just a phrase, it is HIS directive to you as you reach forward one more time and put your hand to a very worn plow handle and begin to till the soil for renewal and revival in your community. The LORD says the room was built with those dimensions for a reason and HE is not ready to let go of that reason.
You stand like a giant in the KINGDOM says the Spirit and you wield a mighty sword.
THINGS GOD WON’T ASK ON THAT DAY.
1…. God won’t ask what kind of car you drove. He’ll ask how many people you drove who didn’t have transportation..
2…. Gos won’t ask the square footage of your house, He’ll ask how many people you welcomed into your home.
3…. God won’t ask about the clothes you had in your closet, He’ll ask how many you helped to clothe.
4…. God won’t ask what your highest salary was. He’ll ask if you compromised your character to obtain it.
5…. God won’t ask what your job title was. He’ll ask if you performed your job to the best of your ability.
6…. God won’t ask how many friends you had. He’ll ask how many people to whom you were a friend.
7…. God won’t ask in what neighborhood you lived, He’ll ask how you treated your neighbors.
8…. God won’t ask about the color of your skin, He’ll ask about the content of your character.
9…. God won’t ask why it took you so long to seek Salvation. He’ll lovingly take you to your mansion in heaven, and not to the gates of Hell.
“What did you go out into the wilderness to see…? Matt. 11:7
Jesus was asking a question about motivation. What is your motivation for what you do? Why do you live the way you live? What is your reason for serving God? Why are you here at New Life?
Are we here because there isn’t any excitement anywhere else? Are we at New Life because it is the biggest, best, most “rocking” place of “worship” in the area? Is it the “in place” to be? I hardly think that is the opinion of the community. Otherwise they would be flocking here by the droves.
This church was built on one principle. We teach the word of God that will give you victory everyday. We may not be a “spiritual walmart” where you can get everything you want. We aren’t large enough to offer classes for every “issue”. We don’t live in a large beautiful house. We have a simple family life and a desire to help all we can.
Are we here to promote a “Christian life style” that is comfortable rubbing shoulders with the world? Should we participate more with the world? It is hard to get more than a handful to join us when we meet with other churches in community services.
I have spent the last three years trying just to continue from day to day. Staying alive was my primary function. Making the effort to continue with what God called me to do and reflect an appearance of strength proved hard at times. But, I made a commitment 30 years ago to give my life for Jesus and New Life. I do not plan to stop as long as there is breath in my body.
“I have decided to follow Jesus. Though none go with me still I will follow. The world behind me the Word before me. I will follow Jesus.
Once is not always enough. Can you receive all you need with a one time request of God? Of course the answer is yes, but it is not always that way. Sometimes, probably more than we want to admit, we need a second “touch” from the master.
What prompts a second or subsequent need to receive more from God than has been done? We must rest assured it is not cause by a power failure on God’s part. When Jesus “could do no mighty works” in His hometown it was not because He did not want to. It was not a lack of faith or power on His part. It was a lack of ability to receive all that was needed at the time.
There are many elements that affect our ability to receive the power of God. It could be a lack of faith, a lack of knowledge, disobedience, or a rash of other causes. We must press through our difficulties and grasp the promise we need at the moment. Ask and you will receive. Seek and you shall find. Knock and it shall be opened. It just might take more than one time.
“And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.” I John 2:17
It is so amazing that we focus so much on the things of the world and take lightly the things of God. How much do we care about the worldly lifestyle? We want everything the world has and sacrifice to get it but at the same time we neglect our spiritual life.
The above Scripture says the lust, “desire”, of the world is passing away. Earthly things will lose their glitter during the passing of time. When we reach the sunset of life what will we have? Will there be a future or will we just regret the past?
In Christ we have the hope of eternal life and He promises never to leave us nor forsake us. Being right is always important and we need to know about being right. Who is correct? Who has the answers? Is it man, the government, society, or God? Maybe it is an alien race that came to earth a million years ago. Whatever the answer you must decide what you believe about life.
I have made a choice and will stand by it until someone can prove me wrong. I believe God is correct. It seems we have arrived at a point in history when it is either choose God or Government. Who will see you through this “evil day?” Will it be God or man(the lesser god)?
Remember in prayer: the families of Ocra Draper and Maxine Moss in the death of their sister, Carril Selby.
Thank you, Scott Rigsby for donating the pizza for the youth party last Sunday night.
Thank you to those who continue to work on the church and the grounds.
And I told them of the hand of my God which has been good upon me, and also of the king’s word that he has spoken to me. So they said, ‘Let us rise up and build.’ Then they set their hands to this good work. But when Sanballet the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard it, they laughed at us and despised us, and said, ‘What is this thing that you are doing? Will you rebel against the king?” (Nehemiah 2:18-19)
Whenever you attempt to do anything for the Lord there will be critics. They may deliberately or mistakenly give out false information that will affect the work you are doing. Nehemiah’s enemies falsely accused him of rebelling against the king. They did not agree with what Nehemiah was doing. But, because he was in the right, his cause was defended and completed with God’s blessing. If what you are doing is right and based on the truth of God, He will bless the work of your hand. You cannot fail. “With God all things are possible.”
“And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.” Heb.9:22(NKJV) The greatest most binding covenant known to mankind is what we call a “blood covenant”.
It is known throughout every civilization. Most places still hold it sacred when instituted. Blood is shed when a blood covenant is made. I am sure you have seen movies where two people cut their hands or wrists and symbolically mingle their blood together. This act makes them “blood brothers”.
Every covenant God has made with man has been a blood covenant. There are other kinds of covenants that exist that are binding on the ones entering them, but the blood covenant is the most sacred and binding because it cost a life. From the first covenant God made with Adam and Eve to the new covenant with Christ, all involved the shedding of blood. Covenants are made to foster relationships between two parties. All of God’s covenants were made to reconcile man to Himself. To better understand the strength of a covenant is to better understand the loyalty and love of the ones making the covenant.
We need to get anger, rage and hostility out of our lives. When coupled with Bitterness it can cause you to explode! Hostility is dangerous to your health!
So what is hostility? Hostility is intense aggression, anger or a strong opposition to someone or something. Long-suffering is a fruit of the Spirit of God. Long-suffering is the part of the nature of God. When you are hostile you are not reflecting the nature of the Father. Hostility and aggression are signs of bondage to the enemy’s influence, often linked with Occultism.
When you are hostile, you don’t have patience, you’re not long-suffering. A hostile person exhibits anger and rage. They tend to have a porcupine mentality where they bristle up at everything, or worse, be like a skunk and spray everyone their mouth. That’s a hostile person manifesting.
Hostility is not good for your health. Hostility might make your lungs sick, according to research which found that young adults with short fuses have impaired lung function. (pulmonary insufficiency or breathing difficulties). In a study of 18 – 30 year olds, hostility was more dangerous to their lungs than smoking.
Where do you think they learned that hostility? Hostile adults. You may be carriers of that generational iniquity. Perhaps every generation has been angry and hostile all through your generations and now your children and grandchildren are starting to act out just like you did…and your daddy did…and your granddaddy…and your grandmother did.
Hostility, in their findings seemed to accelerate natural aging of the lungs. If you want your lungs to age faster, just be hostile.
Hostility comes from and invisible spirit world that influences the mind and personality of humans. The Bible says that God’s ways are higher than our ways. I want the Holy Spirit to illuminate me–not other spirits. I don’t want my spirit man to be clouded with the information from another kingdom. If our minds weren’t occluded, we might have more healing today.
Remember, you can be a Christian and still be a servant of sin. You can be born again and still think, speak and act as a demonstration of the mind of another kingdom–opposing God. Did you know that? It doesn’t take long, if we listen to some people in Christianity, to see how they think, speak and act and you’ll quickly see that other kingdom still working. (to be continued)
We need to get anger, rage and hostility out of our lives. When coupled with Bitterness it can cause you to explode! Hostility is dangerous to your health! So what is hostility? Hostility is intense aggression, anger or a strong opposition to someone or something. Long-suffering is a fruit of the Spirit of God. Long-suffering is the part of the nature of God. When you are hostile you are not reflecting the nature of the Father. Hostility and aggression are signs of bondage to the enemy’s influence, often linked with Occultism. When you are hostile, you don’t have patience, you’re not long-suffering. A hostile person exhibits anger and rage. They tend to have a porcupine mentality where they bristle up at everything, or worse, be like a skunk and spray everyone their mouth. That’s a hostile person manifesting. Hostility is not good for your health. Hostility might make your lungs sick, according to research which found that young adults with short fuses have impaired lung function. (pulmonary insufficiency or breathing difficulties). In a study of 18 – 30 year olds, hostility was more dangerous to their lungs than smoking. Where do you think they learned that hostility? Hostile adults. You may be carriers of that generational iniquity. Perhaps every generation has been angry and hostile all through your generations and now your children and grandchildren are starting to act out just like you did…and your daddy did…and your granddaddy…and your grandmother did. Hostility, in their findings seemed to accelerate natural aging of the lungs. If you want your lungs to age faster, just be hostile. Hostility comes from and invisible spirit world that influences the mind and personality of humans. The Bible says that God’s ways are higher than our ways. I want the Holy Spirit to illuminate me–not other spirits. I don’t want my spirit man to be clouded with the information from another kingdom. If our minds weren’t occluded, we might have more healing today. Remember, you can be a Christian and still be a servant of sin. You can be born again and still think, speak and act as a demonstration of the mind of another kingdom–opposing God. Did you know that? It doesn’t take long, if we listen to some people in Christianity, to see how they think, speak and act and you’ll quickly see that other kingdom still working. (to be continued)
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Heb. 11:1
One of the most important aspects of life is faith. We are creatures that form our entire life around faith. Everything we do involves some element of faith. Faith is not just believing in God, it is believing in anything.
In Mark 11 Jesus said to His disciples, “Have faith in God.” The emphasis is not on having faith, but rather where you place your faith. As opposed to where else you have faith, switch it to God. Faith in oneself is still faith. “I can handle it.” Faith in where you work is still faith. Children have faith in their parents. We have faith in the weatherman or news broadcaster. We have faith in government. We have faith in “mother nature”. How do I know all this is true? Because we prepare for life based on what they say and do.
If you say, “Well, I don’t have faith in them.” You are still exercising faith. How? What is “lack of faith”? That night on the boat in the storm Jesus asked the disciples, “Where is your faith?” What caused Him to ask the question? Was it because they were emotionally in “neutral”? No, it was because He saw something in them. What was it? It was fear. There are only two great motivators in life, faith and fear. We live by one or the other. We are always motivated by either faith or fear.
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Heb. 11:1 One of the most important aspects of life is faith. We are creatures that form our entire life around faith. Everything we do involves some element of faith. Faith is not just believing in God, it is believing in anything. In Mark 11 Jesus said to His disciples, “Have faith in God.” The emphasis is not on having faith, but rather where you place your faith. As opposed to where else you have faith, switch it to God. Faith in oneself is still faith. “I can handle it.” Faith in where you work is still faith. Children have faith in their parents. We have faith in the weatherman or news broadcaster. We have faith in government. We have faith in “mother nature”. How do I know all this is true? Because we prepare for life based on what they say and do. If you say, “Well, I don’t have faith in them.” You are still exercising faith. How? What is “lack of faith”? That night on the boat in the storm Jesus asked the disciples, “Where is your faith?” What caused Him to ask the question? Was it because they were emotionally in “neutral”? No, it was because He saw something in them. What was it? It was fear. There are only two great motivators in life, faith and fear. We live by one or the other. We are always motivated by either faith or fear.
For the past several weeks we have been discussing prayer and what I call Prayer Basics
There are 5 prayer basics #1 ABIDE, #2 ASK, # 3 ASSURANCE, #4 AUTHORITY and today be will talk about #5 ASSIGNMENTS.
Prayer basics will lead you out of infancy in prayer and into rivers of Spirt-led prayer. John 7:38 says “He that believeth on Me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living waters.”
Only God knows He can rely on you to pray in reverence and with authority. He may place specific assignments on your heart. It could be an entire nation or you, a neighbor next door, but in His sight they are equally important and vital to His plan. Think of it: God has asked you to be involved in helping Him on earth! WOW!
Acts chapter 12 records a prayer assignment that was given to a church while Peter was in prison. Verse 5 says that they entered into fervent prayer on his behalf. Their prayer was so full of the fire of God that it broke open the prison door and set Peter free. That’s what fervent prayers can do.
When speaking about the Ephesians, Paul said that they labored fervently in prayer (Colossians 4:12) the word fervent is “to be hot, to boil.” The Bible tells us in James 5:16, that the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. That’s the kind of prayer that Elijah prayed. He really turned the heat of old Ahab because he was on an assignment to intercede for his nation.
Prayer always begins with God. If prayer is your lifestyle, God will find a way to get His assignments to you. But don’t worry; God will not throw you in over your head. He’ll stat you out in the shallows so that you can get your feet wet first. If you are found faithful, God will move you on to deeper things.
Never underestimate the power of prayer! It is so awesome that it will heal the sick, save the lost and set the captives free. Prayers spoken in faith parted the Red Sea, raised the dead, and fed the multitudes. Regardless of the need, prayer will always reveal God’s plan for your victory.
Don’t let past failures keep you away from God’s throne of grace. Discover the awesome power that is available in prayer and never pass up the opportunity to pray.
This is the 30th year for NLFTN’s ministry. Anything that can last that long has had at least a measure of success. I was 32 years old when we started meeting. Our children were younger than any of my grandchildren are now. I am drawing social security and am now 63 years old. Wow, it is hard to believe I have been around that long. I have ministered over 5000 times. Does that mean 5000 different sermons? No, there has been many repeats on the same subject.
The interesting thing is that sermons from thirty years ago and sermons from now, on the same subject, may not say the same thing. Does that mean the Word is changing? No it does not. It means I have changed. The Word is alive and active. Although it is alive, it never changes. It is our understanding of the Word that changes as we study it.
Just because we believe something and preach it a certain way does not mean it is the truth. We are influenced by many sources and develop our ideas for many reasons. Most of our beliefs are based on our environment and experiences. To rightfully interpret and understand the Word of God we must move beyond ourselves and not let our life experiences “color” our view of God’s Word. We must study the Scriptures to show ourselves approved. This means having correct doctrine and theology by which to live. What was right 30 years ago is still right today. What is not right today was not right 30 years ago. The way I believed about an issue 30 years ago may not be the way I believe about it today. Am I trying to change the Word or has my study of the Word changed me to agree with the Word? I hope it would be the latter.
How much have you changed in the last 30 years? Are you being changed by knowledge of the Word? Or, are you changing the Word to suit you?
“He who sits in the heavens shall laugh: The Lord shall hold them in derision.” Psalms 2:4
I know all of us have heard the expression, “a laughing stock”. A laughing stock is something that is so silly it can’t be taken seriously.
Imagine God looking at man’s antics and thinking of them as a laughing stock. God is not the one who creates laughing stocks. Satan comes up with ideas for our “enjoyment” and when we fall for them he considers us a laughing stock.
God may laugh at us as parents laugh at their children when they do something funny. God unquestionable has a sense of humor. “A merry heart does good like a medicine.” But, in the context above, He is not laughing in fun. It is a mocking of them for being such a “fool” as to ignore His ways and commands.
As the old proverb says, God will always get the “last laugh”. We need to live our lives in such a way that God never sees us as silly or a “laughing stock”. The Bible says that the man that doesn’t recognize God’s authority is a “fool”. Fools always end up being laughing stocks.
For the past several weeks we have been discussing prayer and what I call Prayer Basics
There are 5 prayer basics #1 ABIDE, #2 ASK, # 3 ASSURANCE and today be will talk about #4 AUTHORITY.
AUTHORITY Every born-again believer has the potential to tear down strongholds of the enemy and build up the Kingdom of God with their prayers. I am not talking about a haphazard prayer life that occasionally reminds God about our problems. I am talking about a perpetual, consistent and even constant communication with God–communications that keep the airways open, so that the Holy Spirit is able to the plans of the enemy to you and show you how to neutralize his forces and send them running for cover.
It is no wonder the devil works overtime to stop your prayer life. He knows that it is all over for him the moment that you discover the authority you have as a believer in Jesus Christ. Luke 10:19 “Behold, I give you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing shall by any means hurt you.”
Jesus gave you authority to use His name in John 14:14, “If ye shall ask anything in My name, I will do it.” When you have the authority to use someone’s name, it’s as though they were standing there in person. Like you having power of attorney of that person.
That’s what happened in Acts 3:6 to the paralyzed man tat sat at the gate of the city begging for alms. Peter said “…Silver and gold have I none, but such as I have give I thee: in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.” The power of the Name of Jesus instantly healed that man.
When you use the name of Jesus in faith, everything that is named has to bow. Philippians 2:10-11 “That at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of things in Heaven , and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
The devil messed up when he put a name on your problem. Cancer has to bow, poverty has to bow, oppression has to bow, fear has to bow–every name that is named has to bow at the name of Jesus! Of course for this to happen we must be in a relationship with Jesus and doing His Word in our life.
Paul prayed that in Ephesians they would know “…what is the exceeding greatness of His power to usward who believe, according to the working of His mighty power, which He wrought in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead, and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominions, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come, and hath put all thins under His feet, and gave Him to be the head over all things to the church…And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” Ephesians 1:19-22. 2:6
You are seated with Christ and have full authority to use His name to trample on the devil’s head!! Get busy! Pray! We have the authority!!
to be continued
I have learned to live with modern phone technologies as a necessary part of modernization. But I have often wondered, “What if God decided to install automated voice mail system?”
Imagine praying and hearing this: “Thank you for calling My Father’s House. Please select one of the following four options: Press 1 for requests. Press 2 for thanksgiving. Press 3 for complaints. For all other inquiries, press 4.”
What if God used the familiar excuse: “All the angels are helping other customers right now. Please stay on the line. Your call will be answered in the order it was received.”
Can you imagine getting these kinds of responses as you call on God in prayer?
“If you’d like to speak with Gabriel, press 1. For Michael, press 2. For any other angel, press 3.”
“If you’d like King David to sing a psalm for you, press 6.”
“To find out if your relative is here, enter his/her date of death and listen for the list that follows.”
“For reservations at My Father’s House, simply press the letters J-O-H-N, followed by the numbers 3-1-6.”
For answers to nagging questions about dinosaurs, the age of the earth, and where Noah’s ark is, wait till you get here!”
“Our computers show that you have called once today already. Please hang up immediately.”
“This office is closed for the week-end. Please call again Monday,”
Thank God, you can’t call Him too often! You only need to ring once, and God the Father hears you. Because of Jesus, you never get a busy signal. God takes each call and knows each caller personally.
Then you will call and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and He will say: “Here am I.” (Isaiah 58:9 NIV)
I was about the last one of our crew to arrive at New Life and Tim ushered us in just as the Praise and Worship services were getting underway. They have a great Praise and Worship team and from the moment they started you could feel the presence of the Holy Spirit this morning.
As I was getting used to the service I noticed the guy in front of me on the first row had no right hand. Something clicked in my memory about how I thought I had overhead my wife and Tim say something about their Pastor, Bro Reliford being the Pastor at Atwood Chapel in Casey County years ago. That Bro Reliford had actually baptized her when she accepted Christ as her Saviour. The “wierd” thing was that only yesterday I had seen the picture of her being baptized in 1974 that was printed in the Casey paper. For some reason the picture was laying there on the dresser in our bedroom. I have no idea why it was there as I hadn’t seen it out in a lot of years.
While I was contemplating on that, a gentleman came in and joined the Praise and Worship team after a few songs. I recognized him as the man who sung at David Ballard’s funeral almost 2 years ago in Russell Springs. He sang a song that was titled “We Will Ride”. I was so moved by that song at the funeral, that I came home and found three different versions of it. My intention was to use the song as a backdrop for a video segment about our chapter. I have worked on it off and on but still haven’t made it happen. I started thinking about how I could get to him somehow to ask him if he could sing it this morning.
About this time, a young lady in a wheelchair came forward. It seems as if she has a lot of trouble breathing except when she is singing for the Lord. This morning she sang a duet and did a great job. The song she sang was “I Can Only Imagine”. That song is very personal to some of our members and as they sang it, I was filled with quite a bit of emotion also.
It struck me that here I was in a church I had never been in before and that in front of me was a Pastor I had never met. And he had brought a message way back in 1974 that allowed the Holy Spirit to move on a young high school girl and become saved. How she and I got married and that she has been the rock of spirituality for our marriage. And that just yesterday we celebrated 34 years of being married. Thats when I think I kinda lost it. I am glad I had the sunglasses on at that time. The emotion was pretty strong for me.
But God wasn’t done just yet it seems. About this time Bro Reliford gets up and asks Tim to come up and let the church know a bit about CMA and our ministry. Tim of course gets up as a good military man will and then in perfect military fashion, he decides to pass the buck on to someone else. That someone else happened to be me!!
As I took the mike after being thrown under the bus, I knew that God was providing me a way to get to the singer as well as to Bro Reliford. I quickly asked Bro Reliford if he had served at Atwood’s Chapel in Casey County and he looked at me a little weird and said that he had. I then turned to the singer and asked if he had sung at David Ballard’s funeral and he said that he did. I was on the hook now I guess. In a way I was hoping that they both would have said no and that I was mistaken on both counts. I asked the singer if he could do the song that he sang at the funeral. I was so pleased when he said he and the band would try.
As I briefly told the congregation about CMA and our chapter I was trying to keep some composure, but I think I blew it when I tried to tell Bro Reliford how much affect he had on my life by being at a small country church a lot of years ago. About all I could do was to hug him, thank him and sit down out of the way.
We got to hear again one of my favorite contemporary Christian songs that I have heard and I was truly blessed. Bro Reliford brought a good worship message and I knew I had recieved another great blessing today.
Thanks so much Tim and Jodie for inviting us to be a part of your church family. I hope everyone was as blessed as I was today.
Richard Durham
2010 President
Vision Riders Chapter 1038
Christian Motorcyclists Association
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