I’m sure by now some of you think your pastor has completely lost it.  While preaching my sermon yesterday, February 19^th, I misread a word in Matthew 3:16.  In this passage, Matthew is describing the characteristics of the Holy Spirit that descended on Jesus in the moments after his baptism.  The words used by Matthew were “the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting.”  However, I read the scripture on Sunday as “lightning” instead of “lighting.” 

Don’t panic!  Your pastor did not lose the biblical integrity of this passage by simply mispronouncing the word “lighting.”  Sometimes I get so excited while preaching, that I forget to read certain lines from my notes.  There was a line in my notes that made the link between Matthew’s description of the Holy Spirit as “lighting” and the other biblical references to the Holy Spirit as “lightning and thunder”.  In fact, the Bible refers to the Holy Spirit as lightning, thunder and fire, more than any other characteristic.  That is the line I was planning to say on Sunday, but didn’t. 

One of the first descriptions of God’s Holy presence is found in Exodus 19.  Here Moses has the nation of Israel at the bottom of Mt. Sinai and God’s Holy Spirit is dwelling at the top.  Exodus 19:16 – “On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast.  Everyone in the camp trembled.” 

One of the last descriptions of God’s Holy Spirit is found in Revelation 4.  Here John is given a look into what the throne room of God looks like.  In his description he says in Revelation 4:5 – “From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder.  Before the throne, seven lamps were blazing.  These are the seven Spirits of God.”

Remember, the lightning, thunder and light represent the power of the Holy Spirit, but the dove represents the person of the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit is very powerful, but extremely sensitive.  Let’s continue to strive to make our lives a safe place for the Holy Spirit to dwell so we can be empowered to live the Christian life.

Pastor John

Question:  Can you lose your salvation?

What a great question.  Of the more than ten years I’ve been in full-time ministry, this has to be one of the top questions I get asked.  So here is my best attempt to bring you a biblically based answer to a popular question.

In John 3:3, Jesus told a man named Nicodemus, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”  Here Jesus relates a spiritual birth, or salvation, to a physical birth.  So, just like you had to be born physically to have a life on earth, you also have to have a spiritual birth to have a life in heaven. 

 At 7:45am on the sixth day of June 1972, I was born at a little hospital in the small town of Winter Park, Florida.  On that day, the world was introduced to a new life.  On that day, not only did my mom and dad get a son, but the United States of America got a new citizen.  In other words, if you are born in America, you automatically become a citizen of America.

Being a natural born citizen of this country is a very prized possession.  Many people around the world would love to have what I have.  Every day, people make huge sacrifices and risk their lives attempting to gain citizenship in America.  Now, I can do some pretty bad things in this country and lose rights and privileges as a consequence.  For instance, if I drive under the influence of alcohol, I may loose the privilege of driving a car.  If I go crazy and murder someone, I will loose my right to freedom.  So I live my life trying my very best to be a good citizen.  I work hard everyday to behave and keep from braking laws that strip away my freedom.  I live everyday with a healthy fear of the consequences to my actions.  I know that if I slip up, I may loose my freedoms.  I wonder though, is there anything I can do to lose my citizenship?

As a matter of fact, there is.  There is only one thing that can take away my citizenship.  If I guilty of committing “high treason” against the government, then I can lose my citizenship. 

Many people believe that is what the writers of Hebrews is referring to in the following passage.

Hebrews 6:4-6 “It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.”

But there is only one problem.  Remember June 6, 1972?  That was a great day for me, not just because I became a citizen that day, but more importantly, I became a son.  You see, I can lose my citizenship, but I can never lose my sonship.  If I see my relationship to God as something that can be taken away from me if I do bad things, then I’m not a son to God, I’m a citizen to God.  A citizen tries real hard to do the right thing in order to preserve freedom and remain a citizen.  There is nothing I can do, good or bad that can make me lose my sonship with my parents.

Galatians 3:26 says, “You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.”

Are you a citizen or a son of the living God?

Citizens can lose their citizenship, but sons and daughters of God are sealed into the Body of Christ for all eternity.

We have another good question from cyber space.  This question relates to hypnosis.

Question:  “Is hypnosis contrary to Christian belief?”

I don’t get this question too often but, when I do, it gets my full attention.  The answer to this question should get your full attention as well. 

I want to begin the answer to this question by saying that Satan is a master counterfeiter.  Satan has in place an alternative to everything God wants to do in your life.  I remind myself of this important truth when thinking about topics like hypnosis. 

For example, God wants all mankind to be saved and live eternally in heaven.  Satan wants all mankind to be lost and live eternally in hell.  God wants all believers to be filled with the Holy Spirit, which is our gift from God, to empower us to live an overcoming life.  Satan wants all people to be filled with deceiving spirits to cope with our inability to live an overcoming life.

Are you getting the point?

So with that in mind, when I’m asked about the place of hypnosis in the believer’s life, I always ask; why do you feel you need hypnosis to begin with?  The answer usually lies in the fact that someone is feeling overwhelmed with life and is looking for another way to cope, another power to help overcome.  Herein is the real problem.

The Lord promised His Holy Spirit to empower us to overcome all our weaknesses and heal all past wounds.  The Lord promised His people that He would give them the Holy Spirit to fill us with wisdom, discernment, visions and self-control.  The role of the Holy Spirit is to fill us with power to live an overcoming life.  When a believer devalues the role of the Holy Spirit, or fails to yield to the Holy Spirit, they set themselves up for being deceived into thinking the satanic counterfeit of hypnosis is the answer.

Hypnosis is just a door into the satanic spiritual world.  So why would any believer want to spend time in the satanic spiritual world?  This is the wisdom behind God’s warning to the nation of Israel in Deuteronomy.

Deuteronomy 18:10-12 (New International Version 1984, ©1984)

“Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spirits or who consults the dead.  Anyone who does these things is detestable to the LORD, and because of these detestable practices the LORD your God will drive out those nations before you.”

Question:  “How will I know God’s mission for me?  How will I know what He wants me to do in this lifetime?”

We have a question today about discovering God’s mission for our lives.  Have you ever wondered what God’s mission is for your life? 

This is such a great question.  In fact, the number one, best selling book of all time, excluding the Bible, is Rick Warren’s book, “The Purpose Driven Life.”  Think about that.  No other book in the history of mankind has out sold this book that was written about your purpose in God.  Wow! 

In my attempt to answer this question, I’m going to refer to the ultimate number one best selling book of all times; the Holy Bible.

1.  Get saved.

In the book of John chapter 3 and verse 16, Jesus gives us a glimpse of how God sees humanity and what God’s ultimate goal is for us.

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

In this one verse we see God’s global plan for our life.  He wants us to be part of the “whoever” that believe in Jesus and lives eternally with God in heaven.

2.  Discover your spiritual gifts

After that, God expects us to discover our spiritual gifts for the purpose of using them to edify the Body of Christ (the church) and expand the Kingdom of God.

1 Corinthians 12:1 “Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I don’t want you to be ignorant.” 

In other words, after you have been saved, you should discover your spiritual gift.  It’s your spiritual gift that God will use to point you in the direction of your contribution to the work of God on earth.

God gives us all different sets of gifts, but all are given for the purpose of building up the body of Christ.

I see so many people get burned out in their walk with God and get burned by their own church, because this step is missed.  God is going to use you in the area of your giftedness.  Sometimes we get involved based on need and not based on spiritual gifts.  Our church offers Spiritual Gifts Classes and anyone is welcome to participate in them.

3.  Attach yourself to the body of Christ

1 Corinthians 12:12 “The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body.”

Once you discover your spiritual gift, you need to become part of the body of Christ.  You need to join up with other believers that know their giftedness and together form a complete body that God can use to change the world for Jesus.  You will never become the person God called you to be until you join up with a growing body of believers.  I call this the local church.  Once connected, Godly counsel can help you determine where best to use your gifts.

I believe that if you give these three steps your best effort, then God will take care of revealing the rest.

Hope this helps.

Pastor John

Today we have a question about one of the Ten Commandments of God given to mankind at Mount Sinai.  This question is in regard to the third commandment of God.

Exodus 20:7 (King James Version)

 ⁷Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

The question is:  What is the proper interpretation of this commandment?

I’ve spent most of my teen age years and all of my adult years around Christians.  In that time, I’ve heard many different interpretations of this commandment.  It seemed like when I was a teen ager, the interpretation I most heard was that this meant you should never use God’s name as a curse word.  Most people use this verse as a basis to argue that point. I remember one time saying the phrase; “Oh my God” in the presence of my mother.  Her immediate response was; “Don’t take the Lords name in vain.”

I suppose this interpretation is good for the shaping of our young people’s character.  After all, we don’t want people in the body of Christ walking around using God’s name as a curse word.  However, to be honest, this is not the true interpretation of this commandment.

To “take up” the name of the Lord on one’s lips “in vain” meant to “misuse” it or to use it for no purpose.  In other words, God was commanding us, or warning us, that we should not make empty promises to Him or accept the Lord in our lives with out really meaning it.

Paul tells us in Romans 10:9, that if we want to be saved by God, then all we have to do is confess with our mouths, “Jesus is Lord” and believe in our hearts, “that He was raised from the dead”, and we will be saved.  The problem is that many people have violated the third commandment by taking up the name of the Lord without true sincerity.  They have used the Lord’s name in vain, or with out meaning.  The second part of this commandment says that the Lord will not hold him guiltless that takes His name in vain. 

We see Jesus teaching His disciples about this in Matthew 7:21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.  Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?  Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you.  Away from me, you evildoers!”

Jesus gave us the proper interpretation of the third commandment of God.  Using God’s name as a curse word never sent anyone to hell.  However, hell is full of people that have made empty promises to God.  Have you really given God full control of your life?

The question: “Why is Easter celebrated on a different date each year?”

The answer:

This is a great question, considering we are only a few weeks away from celebrating Easter 2011. This year, Easter is being celebrated on April 24th. Did you know that the absolute latest date Easter can be celebrated is April 25th? That means this years celebration of Easter will be one of the latest in the calendar year. Is that confusing? Well, the explanation for why Easter is celebrated on a different date each year is even more confusing.

The short answer is this; Easter is usually always the first Sunday after the first full moon following the Spring Equinox.

That seems simple enough doesn’t it? Well, like everything else in life, what should be simple gets really complicated by time and culture. I’m not going to attempt to give a complete answer to this question. But, I will say that Easter is celebrated on different days of the year depending on where you live, what religion you are and what calendar you keep.

To get a complete answer, visit this web site:
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ch/news/2004/apr9a.html

So, if you live in the United States of America and you are of the Protestant faith and the last time you checked it was the year 2011, then Easter will always fall on the first Sunday following the first full moon following the Spring Equinox.

Hope this helps.

Pastor John

Good morning and thank you for stopping by my blog. I’m very excited to answer our first question.

The question is:

“I love my church and the people in my church, but I can’t connect to the preaching of the pastor. I have trouble getting through his sermons. Some of his sermons, I don’t get. The last one seemed like it stepped on a lot of toes. My husband was very offended and wanted to get up and leave. My dilemma, do we stay at this church with great people and deal with the pastor, or find another church with a pastor we can relate too?”

Answer:

I’ve been in full-time ministry now over ten years. Over that time frame I’ve had this same question posed to me on many occasions. So, here is my answer to your question.

1. Never underestimate the spiritual significance of being in a church where you are fed the Word of God. God told Ezekiel in Ezekiel 34:5 “So they (the sheep) were scattered because there was no shepherd, and when they were scattered they became food for all the wild animals.” Here, God says that when the shepherd (the preaching pastor of your church) does not speak the words of God in a way that the sheep (members of the church) can understand and apply it to their lives, the end result is a life filled with demonic harassment. In the Bible, wild animals are always symbolic of demonic activity. So when Ezekiel says that the sheep became food for all the wild animals because the shepherd failed to deliver the Word of God, it means they were putting themselves in a place of spiritual vulnerability.

2. Be careful that you discern the difference between being offended by the delivery of the message and being offended by the message being delivered. Biblical teachings can be offensive. Jesus had a mass desertion of so called disciples because He was teaching them some deep things that they were not willing to hear. John 6:60-61 says, “On hearing it, many of His disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?” Aware that His disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you?” Paul told Timothy that he would be a good pastor if he told the people what they needed to hear instead of what they wanted to hear. Ask God for His wisdom on this.

3. Don’t ever stay in a church just because of the personal friendships you have there. Remember, there will be a day when we will stand before God and give an account for our lives on earth. On that day, your friends will not be standing with you; just you and God. Having friendships and relationships in church are important, but not the most important thing. The most important relationship you should value is your relationship with Jesus Christ!

In conclusion, God wants you to be in a church where the preaching pastor is preaching God’s Word in digestible portions. God wants you to be in a church where you are growing and serving. Remember, we only have one life to live, so we have to make it count.

You Asked For It

It’s been several weeks since I last updated this blog.  A lot has happened to me during that time. 

One of the things I prayed for this year and made the subject of my fast in January was that God would lead people to me that I could help.  I know that there are many people in our church and community that need a fresh word of encouragement from God.

Well, God has certainly answered my prayer.  Over the last few weeks, God has sent more than a dozen people my way seeking help.  I’ve seen God use me in ways I never thought HE would. 

There is one phrase that keeps popping up in the conversations I’m having with the people God has been sending my way.  That phrase is; “Wow, I never knew that about God.”

I’ve heard this statement so many times these past few weeks, that it got me to think.  I wonder if there are more people in our church and in our community that struggle with their understanding about God and the things God gives us in His Word?  I wonder if there might not be some benefit to giving others an opportunity to ask questions and seek advice in the areas of their faith. 

So, for the rest of this month, I’m going to dedicate this blog to answering your questions.  Do you have questions about God, life, relationships, and eternity?  Is there something you are going through that is sucking the life out of your spirit?

Respond to my blog this month with your questions and I will prayerfully answer them on this blog.

You can submit your questions anonymously by responding to this blog.

God bless,

PJ

Well, it’s been about a week now since I ended my fast.  I was so excited to get back to eating that I didn’t think about the things I would miss.  I have to say that over the last week, there are definitely things that I don’t miss and things that I do miss about my fast.

The things I don’t miss are obvious.  I don’t miss having to sit in another room while my family enjoys a hot meal.  I don’t miss the hunger pains, the weakness and the lack of body heat.  However, as long as this list seems, it doesn’t compare to the list of things I DO miss about the days of my fast.

I miss the closeness I felt with God during my days of sacrificial obedience.  This may seem contradictory; after all, doesn’t sacrificial obedience bring you closer to God.  The answer to that is yes, it does, but there was a different closeness that I felt with God during the days of my fast that I don’t feel anymore.  Maybe God wants to teach me that my relationship with Him doesn’t depend on feelings, but on commitment to serve Him?

I miss getting up early in the morning to spend quiet time with God.  During my fast, my body didn’t need very much sleep.  The body expends energy digesting food and since I wasn’t eating anything all day long, especially late night snacks, my body was well rested.  For three weeks, I would jump out of bed early in the morning with a sense of anticipation.  Like a child on Christmas morning, I couldn’t wait to sit in the presence of God.  Now that I’m eating again, including late night snacks, I don’t have that same energy in the mornings.  I don’t jump out of bed in great anticipation of what God might say to me; instead I peek at the alarm clock to see how much time I have left to sleep.  Maybe God is trying to teach me that my relationship with Him isn’t a sprint, but a marathon.

The Apostle Paul wrote to the believers in Corinth and said “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize?  Run in such a way as to get the prize.”  In other words, it’s not how fast your run the first mile; it’s how fast you run the whole race. 

My prayer this week is that God will sharpen my character and deepen my ability to run the whole race well and not just the beginning.

Pastor John

Day 21 – The finish line

Its day 21 of my 21-day fast and I can’t wait to eat food!  Actually, it’s been so long since I had something solid that I don’t think much about food anymore.  It’s amazing how God has worked in my life to free me from the natural ties to food.

I feel like I could go another week…but I’m not!  When God spoke to me about fasting in January of this year, I was really nervous that I wouldn’t be able to complete the assignment.  I can’t tell you how empowered I feel knowing that I completed the assignment with integrity.  I can’t say that it wasn’t without a sacrifice because it was.  There were many times that I desperately wanted to eat a hot meal with my family.  There were times that I wished I could go out with friends and have a huge plate of extra hot wings and fries.  It was during these tough moments of my fast that God began to sharpen my character and my ability to cross the finish line with honor.

Gods gave everyone an assignment in life.  Do you know yours and, if so, how are you doing?  Not all of God’s assignments are easy and without sacrifice.  In fact, most of the assignments that God gives us require self discipline and commitment.  If you are feeling discouraged about the things of God and the assignments He has given you to do, then allow me to come alongside you today and say; “YOU CAN DO IT”.

The Apostle Paul writes of his desire to cross the finish line with honor.  In Acts 20:24 he writes; “I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me – the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.”

Let’s all take our inspiration from God’s word today and finish the task that He has called us to.  God has given all of us the task of spreading the good news of the gospel to a lost and dying world.  Let’s not just limp across the finish line, but let’s cross with dignity and honor.

Got to go…I smell a cheeseburger!

Pastor John