Allow this Month of December to be a Month of Giving

February 2021

KMBC Family & Friends,

What a year we have already experienced! Covid has divided many churches, families, and good men. It has broken unity and shattered harmony. What I love about the church of the Living God is that we are bound together, it is not artificial, it is Christ’s body.

The church is marked by truth, “continuing steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine.” They met together, they truly loved God’s Word and the teachings. They were in one accord for God’s program and Kingdom. Their fellowship was around the Lord’s death and resurrection. And they prayed together.

The church is marked by the tie. We are tied together by the Holy Spirit and our fellowship is in Him for we are identified in Christ as one. We are not two fellows in a ship, we truly fellowship together in Christ.

The church is marked by the table. We fellowship together by the Lord’s table. We recognize His death for each of us as we commune together in the Lord’s Communion.

The church is marked by the throne. We pray together, we receive great power together and His great presence when we meet together to pray.

The world around us will fear God as we fear Him above all fears.

The fear of the pandemic, loss of jobs, etc., have brought in a lot of reactions. Today we see violence, division, delusion, distraction, and deliberate sin. What did Noah do? He kept building. What about Paul? He kept winning souls. What about us? We will continue to rescue the perishing, care for the dying, and pray for the return of Christ.

I don’t know what tomorrow holds but I do know that we need to be ready and prepared. I heard a preacher this morning say “You better eat your ice cream before it melts.” Friends, we better do today what can’t be done tomorrow.

Are we ready? We need to return to Him before He returns.

I love you in the Lord. Pray for me, please. I’m praying ahead, planning ahead, preaching for the times we are in because I love the Lord and I love you.

Pastor Don

Our church’s address is no mistake.  God has placed us here to reach out to those who surround us in our neighborhood.  We have this great privilege and responsibility before God.

The Lord has also given us the privilege to live where we do.  It is here on our streets that we become mission minded to those who are our neighbors.  We have the great joy of mastering the art of neighboring.  Our neighbors need Christ, and we have the tool to do just this.

What do we do as we gather in our church buildings?  We learn who we are, and that God has given us a special commission to reach others through prayer and discipleship.  It is our responsibility to share and God’s responsibility to save.

Let’s refocus our prayer ministry toward our neighbors.

Love in Christ,

Pastor Don

“As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country” (Proverbs 25:23).

Do you remember the day when the good news of the gospel message of Christ came to you? I do. I never shall forget. The news was so good that I still feel the impact of it. The Holy Spirit came to live within me as a result of that Good News and I live.

There is no better way to live than to share the cold waters of the gospel to those who are hot and thirsty and sin-burned. A soul can be changed forever with your refreshing words of God’s grace. What joy to share the cold waters of Heaven’s River to those who will bend and drink.

Dear child of God allow your life to be consumed with taking the good news to Be the water boy of God’s Life and carry the cold and clear water of the gospel to others. They are thirsty, and traveling with a heavy heart, needing the life of God in them that says to them,

“You are my child now, I have You.”

Plow and pursue. Pray and pray. Talk and walk. Drink and share. Do it all for the souls of those who live in a foreign and far country without Christ. They live across your street, work in your office, walk beside you at school, and a million other places, and they are looking for a cup of cold water.

Oh, I took a drink from the Fountain of Life and I have never been thirsty again. He satisfies. Oh, oh, how He satisfies!

I love you,

Pastor Don

The last fifteen weeks have been active with uncertainty, challenge, and anxiety for all of us. “What have we learned?” I’ve taken some time to jot down some serious and challenging thoughts to my heart in the wake of this virus that seems to linger on and on and on. And within the umbrella of the virus much damage is falling upon our heads even to this day.
The Brevity of Life: “Life is short, death is sure, sin the cause, Christ is the cure.”
The Depravity of the Heart: Man is affected by the disease of sin in every part of his being. His mind, emotions, and will is affected by sin. Nothing is left out.
The Beauty of Jesus: None other is as wonderful as Jesus. When your eyes head to Calvary the world has no attraction. One day all will see the beauty of the One they despised.
The Unity of Saints: There is the presence and power of Christ when God’s people are right with Him and with each other. Healing takes place in all areas of life.
Some of my thoughts:

1. God is in control. “The LORD hath prepared his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom ruleth over all” (Psalm 103:19). God has either authored this or consciously allowed it. No other explanation for this day!
2. This is a Test! “He that is unjust, let him but unjust still; and he that is filthy, let him be filthy still, and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still; and he that is holy, let him be holy still” (Revelation 22:11).
   The pandemic has revealed the hearts of man. As a tree falls that shall it lie. If this hasn’t brought us to the center of God’s will then we find how sinful we are. Unless we are changed by God’s Spirit and God’s Word we will not be altered. No amount of preaching will change a man’s heart if it is not hearing God.
3. People are fearful. The reason for much of the fear is because life on earth means more than life in heaven. Nothing belongs to us and there is nothing that will keep us. God owns everything. We came
   into this world with nothing and we shall leave this world with nothing. All we are will be who we are when we leave this world.
4. Media and Political rants on TV, Facebook, Twitter, and other avenues are expressions which reveal the shallowness of faith in Christ. Hatred is real, sin is real, Satan is alive, and this world system is not a
   friend of God. We can give our opinions, but it is all for naught if prayer is next to nil.
5. The Bible is being fulfilled right before our eyes. Many are saying this, but many are not living this.
   Noah was moved with fear to build the ark to the saving of his family. Russia is raising up like a bear on his side out of sleep and China is manipulative and revengeful. The Bible reveals this and the Islamic
   nations are enraged.
6. The reason many are not attached to the church body is because the Holy Spirit does not dwell within them. “If any man has not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his” (Romans 8:9). We live today with
   professions of faith with little possession of Christ. “Nice people now are becoming wicked people” as physical supplies are limited, and material gain is not available.
7. Many homes are broken (not all) because many Christians are not broken over their personal sinfulness. Weapons of Mass Distractions have overtaken the believer. He has removed himself from right
   living and that “he cannot see afar off, and has forgotten that he was purged from his old sins” (2 Peter 2:9).
8. Many souls are restless. They are not resting in Christ. They are looking for anything to fill the void in their life. Like Satan, they are going to and fro throughout the earth looking for satisfaction, a way out of the boredom of life.
9. A braggart nation is a nation that boasts of her prosperity. People vote their pocketbooks and wallets.
   God knows how to stop it. Many people do not know how to save money but spend it as soon as they have it, and therefore dependency upon government is their God. Fiscal responsibility has been thrown out of the window by our politicians, so why not the people of the land?
10. Our educational system is greatly struggling (public and home-school) because we are not preparing our children to be arrows in the hand of God. Instead of shooting them out into the world to reach sinners we
    are teaching them to isolate themselves from the world and to succeed in this life.
11. Homes are not praying. Husbands and wives are not in joint prayer. Many homes are in trouble and others are separated from each other in their own house. It is causing much demise to the work of God.
    The remedy is awaiting the broken soul in humiliation and humility.
12. The youth of today have not an anchor to hold them up. The only Anchor to ground them against the gravity of sin and death is Jesus who is hidden behind the veil of heaven. Anarchy and apostasy and
    apathy are now an integral part of the nations of the world. Our youth do not know their left hands from their right.
13. Mob rule has now replaced the law of the land. Many laws are now disregarded and unenforced. It’s hard to know the truth when the news is so hyped. Church now can be silenced, shackled, and shut down by local, statewide, and national government. Satanic anger will be the future for churches who preach the gospel.
14. We live in a twisted world where good is evil and evil is good. History is torn down and now anything that speaks of our Lord (church buildings, images of Christians, pictures of Jesus) is now fair game for
    destruction. The devil has now used both sides of the political process to get his gain.
15. In a crisis, the cream will rise to the top and the debris will sink to the bottom. Prayer will remain the leader’s cry and the Bible will be His weapon.
16. Our only hope is Jesus Christ! The problem is the heart of man and only a Savior can change the heart which changes lives which changes the world around him. This world is going down like the Titanic.
    Implosion of past history is promised but the Kingdom of God and His righteousness is just ahead. The birth pangs of this world are giving place to the King and His rule, and those who follow after Him will
    have a position in His Kingdom.
    There is something sadder and more tragic than catastrophes, difficulty, dire straits, and quandary situations: It is to go through these things and learn nothing. Remember this: We are all heading Somewhere and that Somewhere is to Someone and His name is Jesus! All will stand before Him and may you and I be a part of the Master’s Minority who are faithful.
    It’s not over yet! The Lord is coming again!
    Pastor Don

Thanksgiving is a result of being filled with the Spirit of God. We are not thankful for one day but for every day of the year. Even in the bad circumstances, we should be focused on Him-the Author and Finisher of our faith. Only the Spirit of God can make us truly thankful. If you have the life of Christ in you then you have the greatest of possibilities to be thankful.

It is only God in you who will allow you to rejoice, to sing, to be aware of what He is doing. Only as you and I stay in constant contact with our Savior can we know what it means to be true to worship, pray, and praise. If we are not consciously thinking of His presence in us then we will back out of the Throne Room of God and find nothing but the world, the flesh, and Satan enticing us to our own resources.

How sad it is when we are in the reality of the presence of Christ in us! Turn from sin and turn to the Savior. Live and move and have your being in Him.

May we think so we may thank!

“O Lord, I beseech thee, let now thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy
servant, and to the prayer of thy servants, who delight to fear thy name;
and prosper, I pray thee, thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the
sight of this man. For I was the king’s cupbearer” (Nehemiah 1:11).

The basis of courage is individual initiative. If we cannot act alone, we
cannot act together.

God has given us the power to lead. Our knowledge and skill developed by God
in us has given his people the ability to lead.

But it is only under the most difficult of circumstances that character and
courage earns us the right to lead.

Nehemiah led, even under great adverse situations to rebuild the walls of
Jerusalem.