Its kind of late, but we'll get it in anyway.
Please remember our children's encounter this weekend in prayer. I know we have lots of encounters, but it is vital that you and I hold this one up in our prayers. Kids today battle things most of us never experienced as children. The world today is a much different place than it was when we were their age. They desperately need times when they can experience the presence of God. They need to know that God is real. That He speaks to us and we can speak to him...even as children. These experiences serve as "spiritual points of reference" for kids. When they become teens or even adults, they will look back and remember a God that is real...a God that is personal...a God that hasn't changed and is still there for them at their present time of need.
I feel for Christians today who never take the time to experience the presence of God. They go from Sunday church service to church service, week after week, year after year, and sing songs and hear sermons without experiencing the life-changing presence of Almighty God. Its so easy to become "hearers only" without experiencing God. The one-hundred twenty in the upper room went out and became doers because they experienced the baptism and fire of the Holy Ghost in a personal experience. Do you really think they would have left and changed the world if they would have just sang a few songs and heard a nice sermon and went home? I don't think so. They were hungry for the presence of God. They were willing to stay until they experienced it. Oh yes, they were hearers. But they were hungry, desperate for a divine visitation from God. God will not disappoint that kind of expectation.
Again, I ask that you pray for our children's encounters, the workers and the kids that they experience the fire and baptism of God's Spirit.
-Pastor
Friday, September 11, 2009
Thursday, September 10, 2009
The Message that's Not Being Heard
Great article by Lee Grady. A must read for the body of Christ! Have a great day!
-Pastor
THE LOST MESSAGE of CONSECRATION
-by Lee Grady.
From reading some old books I've discovered a missing spiritual
dimension. The Lord is inviting us to reclaim it.
A few months ago I went on a special diet. I put aside all newly
published books and limited my reading to a small collection of
Christian classics, mostly devotional works by Andrew Murray,
Watchman Nee, E.M. Bounds, Charles Spurgeon, A.B. Simpson
and Corrie Ten Boom. I knew God had a message for me in those
musty pages.
I had noticed a similar theme in all these books, but it took me a
while to crack the code. These writers from the 19th and 20th
centuries wrote from a spiritual depth that I rarely see in the
church today, and I wanted to know their secret. I slowly began
to figure things out while reading A.B. Simpson's book, A Larger
Christian Life, which he wrote in 1890 when the Holiness
Movement was at its zenith in the United States.
Simpson often preached about Abraham's offering of his son Isaac
on the altar at Mount Moriah, and he called Christians to the place
of self-sacrifice. Mount Moriah, Simpson wrote, "signifies the deeper
spiritual experience into which the fully consecrated person must
come. In this act of obedience, the sanctified self is laid on the
altar just as Isaac was."
I read similar comments about consecration, or full surrender, in
Watchman Nee's The Release of the Spirit, which was first
published in China in 1955. Nee taught us that the path to
spiritual fruitfulness—and to true, intimate knowledge of the
Lord —is the brokenness of the outward man. He explained that
God uses tests and trials in our lives to break our selfish nature
so that Christ's nature can flow through us.
Nee wrote: "No life manifests more beauty than the one who is
broken! Stubbornness and self-love have given way to beauty in
the one who is broken by God."
Perhaps the reason I find so much nourishment in these old words
is that I don't hear much today about the crucified life, suffering,
brokenness or surrender. We rarely talk of altars and we avoid
altar calls. We don't invite people to a deeper spiritual realm
because few even know about such a place; often even our leaders
are too busy using God to boost their egos or to amass personal
wealth.
Today's shallow, "evangelical lite" culture focuses on self, self and
more self. Christian books today are mostly about self-improvement,
not self- sacrifice. We teach people to claim their "best life now"—
and to claim it on their terms. Our message is one of self-
empowerment: God wants to make you happy, so just add a
little bit of God to your life (on your terms of course) and He will
bless you, prosper you and make all your dreams come true.
How strange that message seems when contrasted with the old
hymns Christians used to sing back in the days of holiness
revivals. This song written by Adelaide Pollard in 1907 seems
eerily foreign today:
Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!
Thou art the potter, I am the clay;
Mold me and make me after Thy will,
While I am waiting yielded and still.
Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!
Hold o'er my being absolute sway!
Fill with Thy Spirit till all shall see
Christ only, always, living in me.
The woman who penned those words was an itinerant Bible teacher
who was discouraged because she didn't have the funds to make
a missionary journey to Africa. She found great comfort when she
put all her plans and desires on the altar and freshly surrendered
to God's will for her life. The song that sprung from her anguish
blessed millions, but today it has lost its popularity because we
simply don't relate.
I believe we must reclaim the forgotten message of consecration.
It is not enough to know Christian doctrines or to paint a nice
Christian veneer on the surface of our lives. God wants our hearts.
We must embrace the cross daily. It is not enough to simply avoid
the sins that our Christian culture says are the "worst"; we must
also allow God's knife to slay the pride, the self-will, the self-
confidence and the self-glorification that our backslidden Christian
culture encourages.
I invite you to reclaim this lost message by praying a "dangerous
prayer" of consecration. Let God assume the throne of your life
while you abdicate. You can pray something like this:
"Lord, You are the potter and I am the clay. Forgive me for my
selfishness. I consecrate my life to You afresh today. I give You
permission to break me, mold me, bend me and make me
according to Your perfect will. This is all the work of Your grace.
I choose to embrace whatever circumstances You must send into
my life in order to rid me of pride and self-will. I choose to live
on Your altar. As I empty myself, I ask You to fill me with Your
Holy Spirit. Amen"
-Pastor
THE LOST MESSAGE of CONSECRATION
-by Lee Grady.
From reading some old books I've discovered a missing spiritual
dimension. The Lord is inviting us to reclaim it.
A few months ago I went on a special diet. I put aside all newly
published books and limited my reading to a small collection of
Christian classics, mostly devotional works by Andrew Murray,
Watchman Nee, E.M. Bounds, Charles Spurgeon, A.B. Simpson
and Corrie Ten Boom. I knew God had a message for me in those
musty pages.
I had noticed a similar theme in all these books, but it took me a
while to crack the code. These writers from the 19th and 20th
centuries wrote from a spiritual depth that I rarely see in the
church today, and I wanted to know their secret. I slowly began
to figure things out while reading A.B. Simpson's book, A Larger
Christian Life, which he wrote in 1890 when the Holiness
Movement was at its zenith in the United States.
Simpson often preached about Abraham's offering of his son Isaac
on the altar at Mount Moriah, and he called Christians to the place
of self-sacrifice. Mount Moriah, Simpson wrote, "signifies the deeper
spiritual experience into which the fully consecrated person must
come. In this act of obedience, the sanctified self is laid on the
altar just as Isaac was."
I read similar comments about consecration, or full surrender, in
Watchman Nee's The Release of the Spirit, which was first
published in China in 1955. Nee taught us that the path to
spiritual fruitfulness—and to true, intimate knowledge of the
Lord —is the brokenness of the outward man. He explained that
God uses tests and trials in our lives to break our selfish nature
so that Christ's nature can flow through us.
Nee wrote: "No life manifests more beauty than the one who is
broken! Stubbornness and self-love have given way to beauty in
the one who is broken by God."
Perhaps the reason I find so much nourishment in these old words
is that I don't hear much today about the crucified life, suffering,
brokenness or surrender. We rarely talk of altars and we avoid
altar calls. We don't invite people to a deeper spiritual realm
because few even know about such a place; often even our leaders
are too busy using God to boost their egos or to amass personal
wealth.
Today's shallow, "evangelical lite" culture focuses on self, self and
more self. Christian books today are mostly about self-improvement,
not self- sacrifice. We teach people to claim their "best life now"—
and to claim it on their terms. Our message is one of self-
empowerment: God wants to make you happy, so just add a
little bit of God to your life (on your terms of course) and He will
bless you, prosper you and make all your dreams come true.
How strange that message seems when contrasted with the old
hymns Christians used to sing back in the days of holiness
revivals. This song written by Adelaide Pollard in 1907 seems
eerily foreign today:
Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!
Thou art the potter, I am the clay;
Mold me and make me after Thy will,
While I am waiting yielded and still.
Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!
Hold o'er my being absolute sway!
Fill with Thy Spirit till all shall see
Christ only, always, living in me.
The woman who penned those words was an itinerant Bible teacher
who was discouraged because she didn't have the funds to make
a missionary journey to Africa. She found great comfort when she
put all her plans and desires on the altar and freshly surrendered
to God's will for her life. The song that sprung from her anguish
blessed millions, but today it has lost its popularity because we
simply don't relate.
I believe we must reclaim the forgotten message of consecration.
It is not enough to know Christian doctrines or to paint a nice
Christian veneer on the surface of our lives. God wants our hearts.
We must embrace the cross daily. It is not enough to simply avoid
the sins that our Christian culture says are the "worst"; we must
also allow God's knife to slay the pride, the self-will, the self-
confidence and the self-glorification that our backslidden Christian
culture encourages.
I invite you to reclaim this lost message by praying a "dangerous
prayer" of consecration. Let God assume the throne of your life
while you abdicate. You can pray something like this:
"Lord, You are the potter and I am the clay. Forgive me for my
selfishness. I consecrate my life to You afresh today. I give You
permission to break me, mold me, bend me and make me
according to Your perfect will. This is all the work of Your grace.
I choose to embrace whatever circumstances You must send into
my life in order to rid me of pride and self-will. I choose to live
on Your altar. As I empty myself, I ask You to fill me with Your
Holy Spirit. Amen"
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Great Quotes...
“All I can say is I look for perpetual conflicts and struggles in this
life, and I hope for no other peace, only a cross, while on this side
of eternity.”
-George Whitefield
"God give me a deep humility, a well-guided zeal, a burning love
and a single eye, and then let men or devils do their worst."
-George Whitefield
"If we believe in Jesus, it is not what we gain but what He pours
through us that really counts. God’s purpose is not simply to
make us beautiful, plump grapes, but to make us grapes so that
He may squeeze the sweetness out of us."
- Oswald Chambers
"Nothing is more contrary to a heavenly hope than an earthly heart."
-William Gurnall
"Consecrate, then concentrate..."
- Dwight L. Moody
"At the day of judgment we shall all meet again."
-George Whitfield
"Dare, dare, my dear brethren in Christ, to follow the Captain of
your salvation, who was made perfect through sufferings."
-George Whitefield
"To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable, because God
has forgiven the inexcusable in you."
-C.S. Lewis
Have a wonderful day!
-Pastor
life, and I hope for no other peace, only a cross, while on this side
of eternity.”
-George Whitefield
"God give me a deep humility, a well-guided zeal, a burning love
and a single eye, and then let men or devils do their worst."
-George Whitefield
"If we believe in Jesus, it is not what we gain but what He pours
through us that really counts. God’s purpose is not simply to
make us beautiful, plump grapes, but to make us grapes so that
He may squeeze the sweetness out of us."
- Oswald Chambers
"Nothing is more contrary to a heavenly hope than an earthly heart."
-William Gurnall
"Consecrate, then concentrate..."
- Dwight L. Moody
"At the day of judgment we shall all meet again."
-George Whitfield
"Dare, dare, my dear brethren in Christ, to follow the Captain of
your salvation, who was made perfect through sufferings."
-George Whitefield
"To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable, because God
has forgiven the inexcusable in you."
-C.S. Lewis
Have a wonderful day!
-Pastor
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Blessed to Overflowing
Prov.3:9-10 Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops;then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.
What an awesome truth this is! And I can tell you by experience, God will keep his word. Since I was a boy, I have given God my firstfruits. In other words, I have given him ten per cent of my income and offerings on top of that. As I have done this, God has always blessed me "to overflowing." I have had people call it "luck." I have had people be jealous at how God has blessed us. I know of people that have been critical of me because of God's blessing and favor upon me. But it really isn't about what I have done or the abilities that I have that have brought about the wealth I have...its all all about God blessing a person when he gives first of everything to God.
Even in times of economic trouble, God is faithful and I have no doubt He will continue to be. I encourage you to give your firstfruits to God. Stop questioning His Word. Stop listening to others. Stop arguing whether you can do it. Just do it and watch God bless you "to overflowing" too.
Have a wonderful week!
-Pastor
What an awesome truth this is! And I can tell you by experience, God will keep his word. Since I was a boy, I have given God my firstfruits. In other words, I have given him ten per cent of my income and offerings on top of that. As I have done this, God has always blessed me "to overflowing." I have had people call it "luck." I have had people be jealous at how God has blessed us. I know of people that have been critical of me because of God's blessing and favor upon me. But it really isn't about what I have done or the abilities that I have that have brought about the wealth I have...its all all about God blessing a person when he gives first of everything to God.
Even in times of economic trouble, God is faithful and I have no doubt He will continue to be. I encourage you to give your firstfruits to God. Stop questioning His Word. Stop listening to others. Stop arguing whether you can do it. Just do it and watch God bless you "to overflowing" too.
Have a wonderful week!
-Pastor
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Sunday Wrap Up
Well, we made it to Indy safely tonight. What a great day today! Sometimes, I think the services are better on holiday weekends when the crowd is a little down. I had people come to me tonight telling me that this morning's service was the best they had ever been in at Kings Point and these folks have been going to church here ten plus years. There was a great liberty in the service this morning, both during praise & worship and during the preaching of God's Word. We had a lot of people that came weighed down with some heavy stuff going on in their lives. They left having traded their heaviness for the garment of praise.
Tonight was equally outstanding. A really good crowd for a Sunday PM holiday service. Wow, did Brother Orr preach a great message and we set forth an exciting new ministry that begins this Saturday. As I said tonight, if you know someone that needs help with getting food, please have them be at the church at 8:30 am this Saturday morning as "Open Arms" begins to feed the community as God provides. We also prayed and anointed the children's encounters workers who will minister during the encounter this weekend.
On September 20th, we will celebrate 30 years of preaching the gospel in Maineville at our our present Kings Point location. We will kick things off with a "Prophetic Praise & Worship" service at 6:00 pm and follow that with a bonfire fellowship afterwards. If you come to the service, plan on entering into praise and worship. If not, you will be bored. On Sunday morning, we plan to have some young men who grew up in the church that have been called to preach the gospel to share in a "tag team message." I think you will enjoy it. Following our service, we will have a pitch-in dinner under the tent in the back of the parking lot. We are planning on a few other surprises to celebrate thirty years of ministry at Kings Point! It ought to be a fun and exciting weekend.
Have a great weekend!
-Pastor
Tonight was equally outstanding. A really good crowd for a Sunday PM holiday service. Wow, did Brother Orr preach a great message and we set forth an exciting new ministry that begins this Saturday. As I said tonight, if you know someone that needs help with getting food, please have them be at the church at 8:30 am this Saturday morning as "Open Arms" begins to feed the community as God provides. We also prayed and anointed the children's encounters workers who will minister during the encounter this weekend.
On September 20th, we will celebrate 30 years of preaching the gospel in Maineville at our our present Kings Point location. We will kick things off with a "Prophetic Praise & Worship" service at 6:00 pm and follow that with a bonfire fellowship afterwards. If you come to the service, plan on entering into praise and worship. If not, you will be bored. On Sunday morning, we plan to have some young men who grew up in the church that have been called to preach the gospel to share in a "tag team message." I think you will enjoy it. Following our service, we will have a pitch-in dinner under the tent in the back of the parking lot. We are planning on a few other surprises to celebrate thirty years of ministry at Kings Point! It ought to be a fun and exciting weekend.
Have a great weekend!
-Pastor
Friday, September 4, 2009
Friday Countdown...
Hello everyone! I hope you have a wonderful Labor Day weekend. The weather looks to be great. I believe we are going to have some great worship services Sunday...come anticipating and be ready to worship and you will not be let down.
Our School of Discovery (or Leadership) begins Sunday, September 20th. You can start signing up this Sunday. The first trimester deals with church doctrine and family issues. I would encourage anyone that has been through encounters and post-encounters to take the course. There are three trimesters and it will challenge you. But you will better for it at the end of the course.
Children's encounter is next weekend. Debbie Jett and her staff have been working hard getting ready for this life-changing weekend. I would strongly encourage you to send your children to the encounter, especially here at the beginning of the school year. As a parent, anytime I can give my child an opportunity to have a personal encounter or experience with God, I am going to get them there.
In two weeks, we will have our annual homecoming weekend celebrating thirty years of ministry at our present Maineville location. This year we plan to set a tent in the back and have dinner on our grounds. We also plan to have a special Saturday evening prophetic worship service beginning at 6 p.m. It will be a little different than a normal Sunday morning or evening service, but if you love to worship and praise the Lord you will enjoy it.
Thanks to everyone who gave in the offering to our Chile church planters last weekend and o those who went to Wendy's for lunch. Around $600 will be given because of those efforts.
Please continue to remember Sister Arlene Miller. She would like for you to pray that she will be able to walk and use her arms again some day. She is still on the ventilator and still using a feeding tube.
See ya Sunday!
-Pastor
Our School of Discovery (or Leadership) begins Sunday, September 20th. You can start signing up this Sunday. The first trimester deals with church doctrine and family issues. I would encourage anyone that has been through encounters and post-encounters to take the course. There are three trimesters and it will challenge you. But you will better for it at the end of the course.
Children's encounter is next weekend. Debbie Jett and her staff have been working hard getting ready for this life-changing weekend. I would strongly encourage you to send your children to the encounter, especially here at the beginning of the school year. As a parent, anytime I can give my child an opportunity to have a personal encounter or experience with God, I am going to get them there.
In two weeks, we will have our annual homecoming weekend celebrating thirty years of ministry at our present Maineville location. This year we plan to set a tent in the back and have dinner on our grounds. We also plan to have a special Saturday evening prophetic worship service beginning at 6 p.m. It will be a little different than a normal Sunday morning or evening service, but if you love to worship and praise the Lord you will enjoy it.
Thanks to everyone who gave in the offering to our Chile church planters last weekend and o those who went to Wendy's for lunch. Around $600 will be given because of those efforts.
Please continue to remember Sister Arlene Miller. She would like for you to pray that she will be able to walk and use her arms again some day. She is still on the ventilator and still using a feeding tube.
See ya Sunday!
-Pastor
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Just some personal stuff...
Just some personal stuff today...its been a while.
Annette, Gabe, and yours truly cut and loaded firewood all weekend and Monday...about 7 cords in all. I ended up going to the Chiropractor and Gabe got a splinter in his eye and ended up going to the Optometrist. Annette who never does anything like that (carrying that kind of weight) ended up great...no back pain, no soreness, no splinters, nothing. Go figure. She's pretty amazing!
Friday night was fun at Gabe's first football game. The score was 41-0 at the end of the first quarter. Every time Gabe turned around he was kicking P.A.T.s, a field goal, or kickoffs. It was comical. Usually the kicker for a football team never gets winded unless he's talking too much on the sideline. But Gabe looked tired after the first quarter. Anyway, Coach Shafer took his varsity out and put in the JV beginning the second quarter. Thank God...the score could have been 160-0 and the kicker would have been too tired to carry and cut wood on Saturday. How devastating that would have been.
Well, I got to be running. I hope you have a great day and let Christ shine brightly today!
-Pastor
Annette, Gabe, and yours truly cut and loaded firewood all weekend and Monday...about 7 cords in all. I ended up going to the Chiropractor and Gabe got a splinter in his eye and ended up going to the Optometrist. Annette who never does anything like that (carrying that kind of weight) ended up great...no back pain, no soreness, no splinters, nothing. Go figure. She's pretty amazing!
Friday night was fun at Gabe's first football game. The score was 41-0 at the end of the first quarter. Every time Gabe turned around he was kicking P.A.T.s, a field goal, or kickoffs. It was comical. Usually the kicker for a football team never gets winded unless he's talking too much on the sideline. But Gabe looked tired after the first quarter. Anyway, Coach Shafer took his varsity out and put in the JV beginning the second quarter. Thank God...the score could have been 160-0 and the kicker would have been too tired to carry and cut wood on Saturday. How devastating that would have been.
Well, I got to be running. I hope you have a great day and let Christ shine brightly today!
-Pastor
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