We had an awesome church service Sunday morning. Several people were filled with the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in other tongues and several were baptized in water in the name of Jesus Christ.
The spirit was moving in a lovely way, we were singing and dancing and enjoying the presence of the living God in Jesus Christ the head of the Church.
Monday, August 18, 2003
Saturday, August 16, 2003
(Which he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures,)
The promises of God. When God makes a promise, He keeps it for good. God made quite a promise to Abraham. Thousands of years ago he said
"That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore;
Look at Abraham's seed today. The Christians, the Jews and the Moslems all call him father. To the Christian he is the father of the faithful to the Jew the Father of Judaism, to the Moslem the father of Ishmael. I'm seeing lots of stars and lot's of sand in one great promise among many God has made.
Jesus was walking with two on the way to Emmaus. One was named Cleopas. He told them everything about himself in the scriptures. I wish I heard what he had said. "And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself."
He may have said,
"I'm the lilly of the valley,
the bright and morning star,
the alpha and omega,
the beginning and the end,
wonderful,
counselor,
prince of peace,
the mighty God,
the everlasting Father,
the prince of peace,
the vine,
the branch,
the root of Jesse,
the root of David,
the Lion of the tribe of Judah,
the Bread of Life,
the Temple,
the tabernacle in the wilderness,
the balm of Gilead,
Rehabs red thread,
the origin of Samson's strength,
the Author and finisher of our faith,
the Rock,
the Shepherd,
the Captain of our souls,
the Son of Man,
the Son of God,
the Ancient of Days,
the passover lamb,
the blood on the doorposts,
the Lord of Lords,
the King of Kings,
a priest after the order of Melchisadec,
the Finger of God,
the one on the Throne,
the interpreter of dreams,
the bronze snake Moses held up in the desert,
the ladder Jacob saw when he ran from home,
the Promise of the Father,
the ark of the covenant,
Noah's ark,
the salvation of Israel,
the earnest of our inheritance,
Rebecka's rings of gold,
the Rock in the desert that Moses struck and out flowed water to feed all of the people,
the sacraficial offering,
the Potter in the Potter's house,
the great I AM,
the wisdom of Solomon,
Angel of God who fought with Jacob,
the Holy one of Israel,
the Lover in the Song of Songs,
the God of Job...
and on and on it goes.
There is another very important promise from Jesus Christ.
And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.
This is where Jesus mentions the promise of the gift of the Holy Ghost. A truly awesome promise. The promise of a power from on high. God's spirit living inside of you.
The promises of God. When God makes a promise, He keeps it for good. God made quite a promise to Abraham. Thousands of years ago he said
"That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore;
Look at Abraham's seed today. The Christians, the Jews and the Moslems all call him father. To the Christian he is the father of the faithful to the Jew the Father of Judaism, to the Moslem the father of Ishmael. I'm seeing lots of stars and lot's of sand in one great promise among many God has made.
Jesus was walking with two on the way to Emmaus. One was named Cleopas. He told them everything about himself in the scriptures. I wish I heard what he had said. "And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself."
He may have said,
"I'm the lilly of the valley,
the bright and morning star,
the alpha and omega,
the beginning and the end,
wonderful,
counselor,
prince of peace,
the mighty God,
the everlasting Father,
the prince of peace,
the vine,
the branch,
the root of Jesse,
the root of David,
the Lion of the tribe of Judah,
the Bread of Life,
the Temple,
the tabernacle in the wilderness,
the balm of Gilead,
Rehabs red thread,
the origin of Samson's strength,
the Author and finisher of our faith,
the Rock,
the Shepherd,
the Captain of our souls,
the Son of Man,
the Son of God,
the Ancient of Days,
the passover lamb,
the blood on the doorposts,
the Lord of Lords,
the King of Kings,
a priest after the order of Melchisadec,
the Finger of God,
the one on the Throne,
the interpreter of dreams,
the bronze snake Moses held up in the desert,
the ladder Jacob saw when he ran from home,
the Promise of the Father,
the ark of the covenant,
Noah's ark,
the salvation of Israel,
the earnest of our inheritance,
Rebecka's rings of gold,
the Rock in the desert that Moses struck and out flowed water to feed all of the people,
the sacraficial offering,
the Potter in the Potter's house,
the great I AM,
the wisdom of Solomon,
Angel of God who fought with Jacob,
the Holy one of Israel,
the Lover in the Song of Songs,
the God of Job...
and on and on it goes.
There is another very important promise from Jesus Christ.
And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.
This is where Jesus mentions the promise of the gift of the Holy Ghost. A truly awesome promise. The promise of a power from on high. God's spirit living inside of you.
Let's take a look at the Book of Romans
Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God,
Paul, as great as he was, being the author of many of the New Testament books, staring churches all over Europe, still considered himself to be nothing more than a servant.
He listened to Jesus who said, the greatest among you shall be servant of all. And in another place he spoke about Jesus himself:
Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross
Philipians 2:6-8
I often think about what it means to be a servant, to carry the cross. After all, Jesus said, "You want to be a disciple? Pick up your cross and follow me."
The cost of discipleship is to carry the cross.
Lord grant me the courage, and the humility to serve.
called to be an apostle
There is always a call and response with God. Even in nature, we hear of it. Go outside in New England on an evening in August. What do you hear? Crickets rubbing their wings together, making an orchestral sound of sorts. Calling summer home. Come here summer, you've had quite a time of it, time to come home and rest. Time is running out summer. Come on home.
But summer doesn't answer, summer is still hot, lot's of time left for barbeques and beaches. Nevertheless, the crickets are calling summer home and God will have his way with the seasons. As Job said "Naked came I into this world and naked shall I return, blessed be the name of the Lord."
We send out the call, and God always responds. "Lord I need you!" -Listen- "My child, I AM here. I love you, do not be afraid. You can do it. Press on".
Paul got the call and he was like summer. Not now Lord, I've got things to do, a church to persecute, not now - I'm hot. I have letters and I'm on my way to Damascus. Not now...
"Paul, Paul why persecutest thou me?" "Isn't it hard for thee to kick against the pricks?"
Music understands the call and response. The saxaphone sends out a flurish of calls, running past and into the C and the F seventh...
Whoa... The drummer responds with a flurish of his own. - The piano sets up an ocean of sound, the bass digs deep to usher in the last four bars.
When the trumpet sounds a very certain sound, the christians, the Christ lovers are on their way home.
separated unto the gospel of God
Be ye separate saith the Lord. God has always asked his people to act differently, to be Holy not holier than thou. Jesus is in the business of separating. Separating his people from their sins.
He will separate the sheep from the goats on judgement day.
Holiness can only come from the Holy Ghost. So how do we get that holiness that can only come from God?
Jesus wants you to have it. He died a miserable death so you could be set free. He died a miserable death for the joy that was set before him. What a paradox. His misery created our joy. Not the joy of knowing he was miserable. But the joy of receiving the Holy Ghost through the operation of the spirit.
Jesus was operated on without anethesia so we could have our cancerous fleshy tumors removed. By his stripes we are healed. Do you believe in miracles?
The spirit of God, which is the Holy Ghost of Jesus can live inside of you. He absolutely wants it to happen. Died to make it so. Then rose from the earth in complete authority over death. It's all in Jesus.
Holiness is an inward appreciation and commitment to the word of God and the Holy Spirit. It is manifest on the outside by our actions and appearance. It's felt on the inside without a shadow of turning. Jesus called it rivers of living water, Luke a rushing mighty wind.
The call to holiness is the challenge to cling to Christ the lover and captain of our soul and not to fall into sinful temptations.
Sin separates us from the love of God. Separation makes us sad, but being separated from the world draws us closer to Him. Not taken out of the world like in a monastary. Not hating the world like a fool, but seperated. We are but strangers and pilgrims on this earth.
The world and the Word. Keep them seperate. What is the world? The Lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life. That is the world.
What is the word?
The word is the seed. Let it grow in your heart.
Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God,
Paul, as great as he was, being the author of many of the New Testament books, staring churches all over Europe, still considered himself to be nothing more than a servant.
He listened to Jesus who said, the greatest among you shall be servant of all. And in another place he spoke about Jesus himself:
Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross
Philipians 2:6-8
I often think about what it means to be a servant, to carry the cross. After all, Jesus said, "You want to be a disciple? Pick up your cross and follow me."
The cost of discipleship is to carry the cross.
Lord grant me the courage, and the humility to serve.
called to be an apostle
There is always a call and response with God. Even in nature, we hear of it. Go outside in New England on an evening in August. What do you hear? Crickets rubbing their wings together, making an orchestral sound of sorts. Calling summer home. Come here summer, you've had quite a time of it, time to come home and rest. Time is running out summer. Come on home.
But summer doesn't answer, summer is still hot, lot's of time left for barbeques and beaches. Nevertheless, the crickets are calling summer home and God will have his way with the seasons. As Job said "Naked came I into this world and naked shall I return, blessed be the name of the Lord."
We send out the call, and God always responds. "Lord I need you!" -Listen- "My child, I AM here. I love you, do not be afraid. You can do it. Press on".
Paul got the call and he was like summer. Not now Lord, I've got things to do, a church to persecute, not now - I'm hot. I have letters and I'm on my way to Damascus. Not now...
"Paul, Paul why persecutest thou me?" "Isn't it hard for thee to kick against the pricks?"
Music understands the call and response. The saxaphone sends out a flurish of calls, running past and into the C and the F seventh...
Whoa... The drummer responds with a flurish of his own. - The piano sets up an ocean of sound, the bass digs deep to usher in the last four bars.
When the trumpet sounds a very certain sound, the christians, the Christ lovers are on their way home.
separated unto the gospel of God
Be ye separate saith the Lord. God has always asked his people to act differently, to be Holy not holier than thou. Jesus is in the business of separating. Separating his people from their sins.
He will separate the sheep from the goats on judgement day.
Holiness can only come from the Holy Ghost. So how do we get that holiness that can only come from God?
Jesus wants you to have it. He died a miserable death so you could be set free. He died a miserable death for the joy that was set before him. What a paradox. His misery created our joy. Not the joy of knowing he was miserable. But the joy of receiving the Holy Ghost through the operation of the spirit.
Jesus was operated on without anethesia so we could have our cancerous fleshy tumors removed. By his stripes we are healed. Do you believe in miracles?
The spirit of God, which is the Holy Ghost of Jesus can live inside of you. He absolutely wants it to happen. Died to make it so. Then rose from the earth in complete authority over death. It's all in Jesus.
Holiness is an inward appreciation and commitment to the word of God and the Holy Spirit. It is manifest on the outside by our actions and appearance. It's felt on the inside without a shadow of turning. Jesus called it rivers of living water, Luke a rushing mighty wind.
The call to holiness is the challenge to cling to Christ the lover and captain of our soul and not to fall into sinful temptations.
Sin separates us from the love of God. Separation makes us sad, but being separated from the world draws us closer to Him. Not taken out of the world like in a monastary. Not hating the world like a fool, but seperated. We are but strangers and pilgrims on this earth.
The world and the Word. Keep them seperate. What is the world? The Lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life. That is the world.
What is the word?
The word is the seed. Let it grow in your heart.
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