Salute a fallen American Hero today if you enjoy your freedom. Read This...
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Randy
Monday, May 25, 2009
Saturday, May 16, 2009
The Miracle Worker
Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know (Acts 2:22)
Some don't believe God still performs miracles but my Bible says, "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever" (Heb. 13:8)
I simply want to tell you a story.
I had to have two root canals done this past Wednesday. I have woefully neglected going to dentist over past year but these, I believe come from an accident some ten years ago that resulted in some cracked some teeth.
I had experienced pain in one of these teeth from last summer, sometimes so severe that I had to hold a heating pad on my face because my whole face would hurt. But that had not occurred for sometime.
While they were doing the second root canal, in the tooth that had had the most pain, they found a third root. They said only three percent of people had a third root in this tooth. They said I was very rare.
The dentist could not get into the canal so she said I would have to go to a specialist or have the tooth pulled. I said I needed some time to think about it. As she walked out, I was distraught. I thought, Lord I wanted to get this done and now I am going to have to pay more and travel some distance to the specialist and miss another day of work. Then I stopped and simply rested and said I am leaving the tooth and the finances at the foot of the Cross, take care of it Jesus.
They came back to finish up and as they did, she stopped and said we need to take another X-Ray, because she said she may have good news. She thought she had gotten into the third canal but the X-Ray showed that the canal had "calcified."
The dentist described this as being sort of like the tooth had done a root canal on itself and sealed off the canal. I had prayed over this tooth many times, especially in those times of pain. The tooth did not do it itself. This was Divine. She said it looked as though it would be okay and not need further attention. They were going to finish the other two canals, build up the tooth, and fill, then wait six months before putting on a crown.
So they finished up. Here is the icing on the cake. God has blessed us with a great insurance plan but the dental has a yearly limit and I was going to have to pay some out of pocket, a fair amount. Now because they were not sure of the results they did not charge me at all for this tooth even though they did the work on the two canals nor would they regardless of the results. I only had to pay half as much as expected.
I believe God did a root canal on that third root, and maybe even created the third root, as a result of a Divine Miracle. He took the pain from the tooth some time back. He then arranged it so that His favor was upon me that I did not have to pay as much as expected. And He had already provided unexpected finances before we knew this was needed that more than covered it. He is Jehovah Jireh, "God has already provided."
God does not always do it when we want it or the way we expected it because He is God and He is Sovereign and who are we to dictate to Him how things should be done. But let it be known that He always comes through right on time.
My God is still in the Miracle working business. Jesus is still Savior, Sanctifier, Holy Ghost Baptizer, Healer, and soon Coming King. I still believe in the 5 Fold Gospel the old fashioned Pentecostals believed in.
Isaiah 53:5 says, "But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed." This shows that it is from the Cross of Calvary that everything comes. The Blood of Jesus paid for it all. When Jesus said, "It is finished..." (John 19:30), all that would ever be needed had been done. It has nothing to do with me. It does not matter what I say or how I say it. It only matters that the focus of my Faith is properly placed and that is in the Cross and Jesus' finished work there.
My first reaction was not of faith. I had no "word of Faith" to bring. I simply laid it at the Cross and rested in Christ, my Sabbath. That flies in the face of much popular Theology but I am thankful that Jesus is the Miracle Worker and not my confession.
"Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief" (Mark 9:24b) still works. PRAISE THE NAME OF JESUS. Reach out and lay hold of the person of Christ and His Finished Work on the Cross.
Grace and Peace to you,
Pastor Randy
Some don't believe God still performs miracles but my Bible says, "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever" (Heb. 13:8)
I simply want to tell you a story.
I had to have two root canals done this past Wednesday. I have woefully neglected going to dentist over past year but these, I believe come from an accident some ten years ago that resulted in some cracked some teeth.
I had experienced pain in one of these teeth from last summer, sometimes so severe that I had to hold a heating pad on my face because my whole face would hurt. But that had not occurred for sometime.
While they were doing the second root canal, in the tooth that had had the most pain, they found a third root. They said only three percent of people had a third root in this tooth. They said I was very rare.
The dentist could not get into the canal so she said I would have to go to a specialist or have the tooth pulled. I said I needed some time to think about it. As she walked out, I was distraught. I thought, Lord I wanted to get this done and now I am going to have to pay more and travel some distance to the specialist and miss another day of work. Then I stopped and simply rested and said I am leaving the tooth and the finances at the foot of the Cross, take care of it Jesus.
They came back to finish up and as they did, she stopped and said we need to take another X-Ray, because she said she may have good news. She thought she had gotten into the third canal but the X-Ray showed that the canal had "calcified."
The dentist described this as being sort of like the tooth had done a root canal on itself and sealed off the canal. I had prayed over this tooth many times, especially in those times of pain. The tooth did not do it itself. This was Divine. She said it looked as though it would be okay and not need further attention. They were going to finish the other two canals, build up the tooth, and fill, then wait six months before putting on a crown.
So they finished up. Here is the icing on the cake. God has blessed us with a great insurance plan but the dental has a yearly limit and I was going to have to pay some out of pocket, a fair amount. Now because they were not sure of the results they did not charge me at all for this tooth even though they did the work on the two canals nor would they regardless of the results. I only had to pay half as much as expected.
I believe God did a root canal on that third root, and maybe even created the third root, as a result of a Divine Miracle. He took the pain from the tooth some time back. He then arranged it so that His favor was upon me that I did not have to pay as much as expected. And He had already provided unexpected finances before we knew this was needed that more than covered it. He is Jehovah Jireh, "God has already provided."
God does not always do it when we want it or the way we expected it because He is God and He is Sovereign and who are we to dictate to Him how things should be done. But let it be known that He always comes through right on time.
My God is still in the Miracle working business. Jesus is still Savior, Sanctifier, Holy Ghost Baptizer, Healer, and soon Coming King. I still believe in the 5 Fold Gospel the old fashioned Pentecostals believed in.
Isaiah 53:5 says, "But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed." This shows that it is from the Cross of Calvary that everything comes. The Blood of Jesus paid for it all. When Jesus said, "It is finished..." (John 19:30), all that would ever be needed had been done. It has nothing to do with me. It does not matter what I say or how I say it. It only matters that the focus of my Faith is properly placed and that is in the Cross and Jesus' finished work there.
My first reaction was not of faith. I had no "word of Faith" to bring. I simply laid it at the Cross and rested in Christ, my Sabbath. That flies in the face of much popular Theology but I am thankful that Jesus is the Miracle Worker and not my confession.
"Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief" (Mark 9:24b) still works. PRAISE THE NAME OF JESUS. Reach out and lay hold of the person of Christ and His Finished Work on the Cross.
Grace and Peace to you,
Pastor Randy
Friday, May 1, 2009
The Homosexual Agenda Comes to the Heartland!
It's no longer just San Francisco and Masachussetts, it has officially come to the heartland. This of course has nothing to do with the will of the majority of the people but with activist judges, as is usual. It does, however, prove that it is time for us who are true followers of Christ, as well as all who believe that marriage was and is instituted BY GOD BETWEEN A MAN AND A WOMAN to let our voices be heard. He did this, for those who do not know, before the fall of man in the Garden of Eden. Genesis 2:24 says, "Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh."
The relationship between Christ and the Church is illustrated by marriage throughout the New Testament. Marriage is a sacred institution and very near and dear to God's heart. Satan knows this and it is for this very reason that there is such a push to pervert the true meaning of it, even to confuse and distort the meaning is the start of the downfall of any society.
God says in Leviticus 18:22 "Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination." It is clear in Scripture how God feels about it. Thus it is clear how true Christians should feel about it. Always remember that neither God nor True followers of Christ hate or have anything personal against the homosexual, it is no different than with any sinner. It is not the sinner but the sin that we Preach against. Jesus Christ died on The Cross to redeem and pardon the homosexual just as He did for all. The Cross is the great equalizer. Without it we all will get what we deserve, death and hell ( Romans 6:23a) but we it we may all have the Free Gift of eternal life (Romans 6:23b; John 3:16, et al).
However, do not be surprised of what is going on in our country. The Holy Spirit told us through the Apostle Paul that this day would come. Romans 1:26 "For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: 27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet."
Paul reminds us that though we fight against the agenda, we must simply pray for the people out of shear gratitude that, as stated, we were delivered from the same or just as bad. 1 Corinthians 6:11 "And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God."Call me extreme but I simply believe the Bible and believe that "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16). Because of this all may live if they look to the Cross.
That's not hate. That is the very definition of real love. 1 John 4:10 "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins."
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Randy
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Monday, April 27, 2009
A NEW CREATURE
2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
When we are in Christ by placing our Faith in His Finished Work at on the Cross, we are not better people, cleaned up people, starting over people, turning over a new leaf or our best selves…we are "new creatures"
When Jesus said "…it is finished…" (John 19:30) all had been done that needed to be done to redeem all mankind from the Garden of Eden to the End of time. The enmity (hostility, ill-will, hatred [UBS]) has been removed by The Cross (Eph 2:15-16). Christ died not only so we could come to God but that God might come to us. He died to redeem the whole man, spirit, soul, and body and God did not send His only begotten son to fix used merchandise so it will be better - Jesus died that we might be recreated.
Friberg's Greek Lexicon defines the Greek for new in this way: (1) of what was not there before new, recently made, not yet used, fresh (MT 9.17); (2) of what was not known before strange, unheard of, unusual (MK 1.27); (3) of what was not possessed before newly gained, newly acquired (MT 13.52)
Old things are passed away including not only past sin, although that is the biggest and most important, but also past hurts and past guilt (Rom. 8:1). We must forgive (Mat. 6:14-15) and move on. Christ made this possible on the Cross. When He said, "father forgive them..."(Luke 23:34), He made it possible for us to do the same.
Sin is the problem. The Cross is the answer. Always and without exception this is the case. It's time to get a Revelation of who we are in Christ, if indeed we be in Christ, and allow the Holy Ghost to transform us into the new creature that we are.
Keep your Faith properly focused upon Christ Crucified and let the old man die. Jesus said in Luke 9:23, "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me." This means to die to self. The Cross was an instrument of death. It was the Roman method of execution. This verse does not mean to bear your particular burden as some have wrongly taught, it means to let the old man die and let Christ live through you. In other words, you cannot truly follow Christ unless self is denied and crucified. This, as all we receive from God, is only possible by means of the Cross of Christ. "For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God." (Colossians 3:3).
Read this from sermonillustrations.com, it is a good illustration.
Thank you Lord for the Cross.
Pastor Randy
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Eat of Me...Drink of Me Luke 6:53
John 6:53 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.
God don't want our "filthy rag" (Is. 64:6) good works. He will only accept Christ's finished Work on the Cross. Jesus plainly tells those following Him when He was on earth, unless you eay [my flesh], that is, trust in and focus your Faith completely on my Perfect and complete Sacrifice on the Cross, not in your head but deep down on the inside and drink [my] blood, that is rely on the efficacy of it's cleansing, wonder working power...He is talking about taking it in completely...not lukewarm but sold out, with a made up mind. We must know that our works, our religion, our intelligence, knowledge, wisdom, or anything else means absolutely nothing. We must know that unless our Faith is properly placed upon Christ and Him Crucified (1 Cor 2:2), nothing we offer will be accepted and we have NO life in [us]. The modern church is looking for the living among the dead (Luke 24:5), we won't even get into those in the world, they are lost...we must get the church right before we can do anything with the world...hmmm...
God don't want our "filthy rag" (Is. 64:6) good works. He will only accept Christ's finished Work on the Cross. Jesus plainly tells those following Him when He was on earth, unless you eay [my flesh], that is, trust in and focus your Faith completely on my Perfect and complete Sacrifice on the Cross, not in your head but deep down on the inside and drink [my] blood, that is rely on the efficacy of it's cleansing, wonder working power...He is talking about taking it in completely...not lukewarm but sold out, with a made up mind. We must know that our works, our religion, our intelligence, knowledge, wisdom, or anything else means absolutely nothing. We must know that unless our Faith is properly placed upon Christ and Him Crucified (1 Cor 2:2), nothing we offer will be accepted and we have NO life in [us]. The modern church is looking for the living among the dead (Luke 24:5), we won't even get into those in the world, they are lost...we must get the church right before we can do anything with the world...hmmm...
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