Cozy with Crooks and Riffraff?

“I will praise thee, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing unto thee among the nations” (Psalm 57:11).

A heart that is not awakened to God will cause spiritual drowsiness, but awakened to God will create excitement and praise. There is nothing more boring than a heart that is sleepy toward our great God.

David points to his own heart and says, “My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed; I will sing and and give praise.” What is fixed? The heart, the conscience, the will, the affections which draws the mind afterwards.

While we sleep God is working for us. When David awoke he wanted to tell the whole world what God had done for Him. God answers prayer, and whatever He does is for your good and His glory.

Left Behind (Preached on March 29th, 2020) Matthew 24:36-41
Prophecy seems to be out of place these days in our preaching unless a tragedy takes place. People go immediately to sensationalism to scourging the preaching but we need to go to the Scripture. The soon coming of the Lord seems to as common as American as apple pie, hotdogs, and baseball. We don’t think much about it. But we should! Jesus is coming again.
Our world is anxious today and worried. Everything has been turned upside down. Jobs are shut down, parking lots are empty, nonessential businesses have closed. And the church is emptied of its congregants. Jesus said, “Let not your heart be troubled, ye believe in God, believe also in me…” (John 14:1). The Lamb of God is coming for the lambs of God. We are seeing a dress rehearsal for the coming tribulation.
People don’t believe in the rapture. Enoch did. Elijah did. Jesus did. Paul did. One day Jesus is coming back to catch us away. You find that in I Thessalonians 4:13ff. Who are going to be taken up with Him? The ones who have been born again, who have the same nature as God. Those who have a second birth. Those who follow Jesus as Lord on earth.
Some things out of place at this time. The bride is not with the bridegroom. The Jews are not back in the land of Israel. Satan is not in hell. Jesus is not reigning in Jerusalem from David’s throne. God is preparing all things to fulfill these prophecies.
One day children will disappear from their beds. Moms will be missing. Pilots will be taken up. Bus drivers and car drivers will exit their cars. One man working beside another and one is taken. Two in bed, a man and his wife, and one is taken.

1. A Word of Caution (Matthew 24:36)
   We don’t know when the event will take place but we know it will. Millions will vanish without a trace. It will be a worldwide event. In less than a millisecond, there will be an evacuation, an exit, an entry into the glory to be with the Lord forever. Can you imagine the anguish when loved ones have been taken and many don’t know where they are? We look at the nation of Israel. It was reformed as a nation in 1948. Never has this happened to any other nation or state. Jesus said this is the budding of the fig tree and when this happens the coming of the tribulation is nigh. That means before the tribulation happens the rapture will take place. Only when the true church is taken from this world will we see this happen. The world is awaiting a devastating day. And they do not know it and they are indifferent to it.
2. A Word of Contemplation (Matthew 24:37-41)
   Look at the situation today: politically, economically, ecclesiastically, and morally. Jesus said these things would take place and the world will be shaken from its moorings. Their anchor will be pulled up. Everything people have lived for, sold their souls for, will suddenly, fatally, finally be taken away. Noah preached for 120 years and only 8 got in the ark. He was a preacher of righteousness. With every blow of the hammer, with each cutting down of a tree, with the dabbing of tar on the boards of the ark to waterproof the ark from the water, God was speaking. God is saying things today. Adrian Rogers said, “I would rather scare you into hell than lull you into hell.” Too many are not ready! Mortality is coming, hell is coming, and people are being warned by today’s situations. Too many say they know Christ but the question is does He know them? Many Christians are asleep and they will stand at the judgment seat of God to be shown their bad works before a holy and righteous God.
3. A Word of Concern (Matthew 24: 42-51)
   After the rapture God will focus His concern on the earth. He is going to allow man to continue in their rebellion. They will ruin themselves. Then Satan will come in the person of the Anti-Christ to rule over and stamp his mark of 666 on earth of his subjects. But at the last 3 1/2 years of the Great Tribulation, God will begin to pour out his bowls of judgment upon the earth dwellers. They will cry out for the rocks of the mountains to fall on them and hide them from the wrath of the Lamb of God. Can you imagine that? What should we do as God’s people? Be watchful! Be Warned! Be Awake! What should the lost do? They should repent of their sin, their life of self-serving, self-ambition, and get the life of God in them by turning from their sin and asking God to be merciful unto them.
   One day Jesus is coming. A man went upstairs to the attic. He found an opened box with nuts, bolts, nails, dust, pieces of paper, and some splintered wood. He found a strong magnet and waved it over the box. What leaped to the magnet? The nuts, bolts, and nails. Why? They alone had the same nature as the magnet. Only those who have the same nature of God within will be caught up to Jesus. Those who know Him will be rescued from this world’s chaos that will take place one day. Either party, saved or lost, come to Jesus before it’s too late!

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

Dear Church, 

Our hearts are saddened by all the damage inflicted upon mankind with the destruction from Hurricane Helene. 

May I give some critical thoughts for consideration? 

1. Natural disasters give us the opportunity to respond to God.  We can be angry, especially if it were our house, our business, our child lost in the rushing water, or the fallen tree.  Or we can stand in awe of the mighty power of the Almighty. 

2. The ground shook in Western North Carolina and Eastern Tennessee as did the other states where landfall occurred, and the storm moved up and left.  The only thing that matters to many is to be able to find firm ground to stand upon. 

3. The Bible instructs us to make sure that our lives are built upon a foundation that will never be shaken, a foundation that is not subject to the unpredictable forces of nature. 

4. At Mt. Sinai, the Bible records the first earthquake as God gave the law to Moses.  Why?  God expects and commands those who are created by Him to tremble and be in awe of His power.  His voice speaks of the content of the moral law; the voice of nature (earthquake) spelled out God’s power and authority.  The Ten Commandments shouted His rules for living; the Trembling of Nature shouted His rules for worshipping.  We are to fear Him for this is not only appropriate but commanded. 

5. God also spoke at Mt. Calvary and the earth quaked.  Jesus spoke words of kindness, mercy, and love even while He was being judged for our sins.  We should listen. “Be careful that you do not refuse to listen to the One who is speaking.  For if the people of Israel did not escape when they refused to Listen to Moses, the earthly messenger, we will certainly not escape if we reject the One who speaks to us from heaven!”  When God spoke from Mount Sinai His voice shook the earth, but now he makes another promise:  “Once again I will shake not only the earth but the heavens also.” 

6. The earth will not go on forever.  Earthquakes and hurricanes remind us that life is short and that God will re-create a new heaven and a new earth.  Only what is eternal will remain. 

7. We are to know that tragedies are teachers that instruct us to hold on to Christ tightly and hold everything else loosely. 

The Eternal Kingdom will never be shaken.  Find your Firm ground to stand upon and thank God for His Unshakeable Kingdom. 

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

Adoniran Judson and Ann Judson boarded a ship for India that would eventually lead them to Burma (modern-day Myanmar).  They suffered and endured much on the mission field, yet they were used by God in some extraordinary ways.

A letter was written from Adoniram to Ann’s father asking for permission to marry his daughter.   The following is Adoniram’s candid request:

I have now to ask, whether you can consent to part with your daughter early next spring, to see her no more in this world; whether you can consent to her departure, and her subjection to the hardships and sufferings of missionary life; whether you can consent to her exposure to the dangers of the ocean, to the fatal influence of the southern climate of India; to every kind of want and distress; to degradation, insult, persecution, and perhaps a violent death.  Can you consent to all of this, for the sake of him who left his heavenly home, and died for her and for you; for the sake of perishing, immortal souls; for the sake of Zion, and the glory of God?  Can you consent to all this, in hope of soon meeting your daughter in the world of glory, with the crown of righteousness, brightened with the acclamations of praise which shall redound to her Savior from heathens saved, through her means, from eternal woe and despair?

Ann’s dad said “yes,” the couple was married, and a year later they set sail.  Ann’s dad would never see his daughter or son-in-law again.  In fact, Ann would lose her life sharing the gospel with people who had never heard the good news of Jesus Christ.

John Piper said, “God’s plan is that his gospel-spreading, church-planting purpose triumph through the suffering of his people.”  Is this out-of-the-ordinary type of commitment or are we too far behind in our passion for Christ and His gospel?