by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam
Sunday, April 29, 2018
Paul Tells Others About His Gospel - by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam
Saturday, April 28, 2018
God’s Waiting Room - By Pastor Kevin Sadler
God’s Waiting Room
By Pastor Kevin Sadler
"Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord" (Psa. 27:14).
The
half-joking prayer, "Lord, I need patience, and I need it RIGHT NOW,"
isn't too far removed from how we approach matters of spiritual growth
and living out the will of God in our life. Life is full of waiting:
waiting for your phone to charge; waiting in line at the grocery store;
waiting in a traffic jam; waiting for a job; waiting for the right
spouse; waiting for test results; waiting to be old enough to drive.
Steve Farrar of Men's Leadership Ministries says, "Waiting is like
eating gravel. Nobody in their right mind wants or likes to do it."
Waiting is difficult.
The
culture we live in is one that doesn't like to wait. We like instant
and fast everything--instant downloads, instant messaging, instant
coffee, instant prints, fast-food restaurants, faster internet, fast
phones. However, there are many times along our journey through life
when God says, "Wait here." And what looks like 15 minutes turns out to
be 15 months, or even 15 years.
The
Bible provides numerous examples of people who waited on the Lord.
Abraham waited for decades to have the son that God promised him. Joseph
had to wait in prison. Moses waited for 40 years on the backside of the
desert, tending sheep, before leading the children of Israel out of
captivity in Egypt. The Israelites then had to wait 40 years to enter
the Promised Land. Simeon waited for the birth of the Messiah. Paul
waited during his time of preparation in Arabia.
Waiting
is a part of God's plan and purpose in our lives, and resisting God's
timing and trying to get ahead of the Lord can have serious
consequences. Abraham and Sarah found this out when they ran ahead of
God, with Hagar bearing Ishmael instead of waiting on God's promise
(Gen. 16).
God
works while His people are waiting. Time is not wasted in God's waiting
room. Waiting on the Lord renews our strength (Isa. 40:31). God often
uses these times of waiting to prepare us for what lies ahead. Oswald
Chambers writes, "We are apt to think that everything that happens to us
is to be turned into useful teaching…We shall find that the spheres God
brings us into are not meant to teach us something but to make us
something." In those waiting times, God both teaches and makes us
something; in us He cultivates patience, Christlike character, and hope
as we trust Him through those times. As we read in Romans 5:3-5a,
"And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: and hope maketh not ashamed."
Les Feldick Ministries
30706 W. Lona Valley Rd.
Kinta, OK 74552
Posted By Cecil and Connie Spivey
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Friday, April 27, 2018
Call Me Crazy - Posted By Pastor Kevin Sadler
Call Me Crazy
Posted By Pastor
Kevin Sadler
“For
whether we be beside ourselves, it is to God…” (2 Corinthians 5:13).
The
Greek word translated as “beside ourselves” means, in this context, to be out
of one’s right mind, insane, or mad. Because of his zeal for the truth and
constant drive to live for the Lord and get the gospel out to the lost, the
Apostle Paul was viewed as being crazy. With his fervor for serving the Lord,
he seemed like a man out of balance and fanatical to the world.
In
Acts 26:4-23, we learn how Paul shared the testimony of his conversion before
Governor Festus and King Agrippa. In verse 24 of this passage, we read that
“Festus said with a loud voice, Paul, thou art beside thyself; much learning
doth make thee mad.” This statement put Paul in the best of company. People
also said our Lord was “beside Himself” and “mad.” Mark 3:21 tells us, “And
when His [the Lord’s] friends heard of it, they went out to lay hold on Him:
for they said, He is beside Himself.” Likewise, in John 10:20: “And many of them
said, He hath a devil, and is mad….”
Being
called crazy for the sake of Christ is not an insult, but a compliment for the
believer. If people think we’re crazy because we live for the Lord, that’s a
good thing. It shows we’re following the Lord and His Word. Following the Lord
and living by His Word will make us appear different to the world because we’re
not going with the flow and we are not living “according to the course of this
world” (Ephesians 2:2), and so it seems to them that we’re a bit off and crazy.
Dogmatism,
belief that the Bible is absolute truth, also makes people think you’re crazy.
Dogmatism is uncommon and unacceptable in a society that demands tolerance.
When you say that, based on the Word of God, something is the absolute truth,
the world will think you’re crazy. The Word of God, however, is an absolute. It
is our authority. When it says that there is only one way to God, and it’s
through the Lord Jesus Christ, that’s the truth, and we must proclaim it, even
if people call us crazy.
As
we follow Paul as he followed Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1), we too, like Paul, should
have a deep-seated devotion for the Lord, consumed with a zeal for the things
of God, living for unseen, eternal things. This will make people think you’re
out of your mind, but that’s good. It’s good to be called crazy for the Lord.
Like Paul, we remember that if we appear to be out of our right mind because we
hold nothing back and are zealous and dogmatic, “it is to God,” it’s to please,
honor, and glorify Him.
King James Bible
The Preserved and Living Word of God
(A 10
Minute Video)
Posted By Cecil and Connie Spivey
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