Dec 24

Well it's almost here the day we celebrate the birth of our Wonderful,  Counselor, the mighty God , the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.
Many stores will be open, for your shopping convenience.
There will still be a Duck Dynasty controversy
The god father marathon will be on
There will be enough football on TV to make you want to switch to soccer.
 But isn't that what Christmas is all about?

Of course I am being a bit sarcastic, there isn't a whole lot of Christ in Christmas any more, how pitifully sorry that is.

Take some time to seek Jesus on December 25th, worry about all the other stuff later, make Jesus the honored guest in your house on Christmas day. Pray for one another and love one another, share your self with each other, appreciate what you have in Christ.
blessings
PR

the blessing of sound teaching

We all know that we are told as believers to study the Word, all that we need is contained in the pages of the Bible to give us the instructions,  as we navigate in this messed world.
In a recent Bible study a person told me they had never studied the Word of God before. This was truly reflected in an inability to sort out the good from the bad, the right from the wrong, true and the false, when it came to groups that call them christian but really aren't.

One thing I am thankful for is that I was led to be a student of the Word. Reading and Bible study, make all the difference in the world in a believers life. Add to that the guidance of the Holy Spirit and the result is that you know the truth. God's Word is a lamp unto my feet, and the more you apply it to your life the brighter that light gets
PR

America does it again

A head line in the news today is that American once again is supporting Iran- IT seems are president lifted our embargo to Iran weeks ago. I wonder if he ever read in the Bible; Genesis 12: 1 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: 2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: 3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
God is talking to those who bless Israel, could it be america is turning its back on the people of the Book, the children of Abraham, oh excuse me the chosen people of God.
Stay tuned for how this is going to effect our once great nation. Pray for our truly unsaved president.
PR

Psalm119:13-118

Psalms 119:113 SAMECH . I hate the double-minded, But I love Your law. 114 You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in Your word. 115 Depart from me, you evildoers, For I will keep the commandments of my God! 116 Uphold me according to Your word, that I may live; And do not let me be ashamed of my hope. 117 Hold me up, and I shall be safe, And I shall observe Your statutes continually. 118 You reject all those who stray from Your statutes, For their deceit is falsehood.

We will stay the course- till our journey be ended
PR

whew!

there have been so many things going on lately, the passing of Pastor Chuck Smith and all the repercussions of his absence now. Having a serious bout of bronchitis with a rib injury - no fun at all, getting ready for fall and all the things that entails. And in the midst of it all. there is the constant burdens of the local lost ( my term for family that hasn't surrendered their hearts to the Lord). Must keep looking to the Lord - for guidance and grace and not get lost in the chaos of things. Lord you are my compass,
thank you
PR

where are the birds

I dont know where you live, but here where I live the birds are gone, except for a scant few, where did they go? I dont have a clue, my bird feeder is still full from a month ago. It usually is emptied by my feathery friends in a couple of days. So I begin to wonder no sparrows, cardinals, wrens, chickadees, could this be a sign for us to notice, I'm not trying to be an alarmist, by I do trust the scriptures, is this a sign for us to notice or are we to busy to see it in our midst. More prayer, more Word, more attention to detail. PR

not just another day

Yesterday I woke in the normal fashion and did the normal things that I do to get ready for the day, I was headed to the doctor, so off I  drove. As I was driving I get a phone call from a pastor friend. Pastor Chuck went home to be with the Lord early this morning. I'm shocked, you see I knew this day was going to come, with his battling cancer and all, I just never thought it would be today.
Pastor Chuck was a pioneer of the 20 century, through prayer and seeking the Lord and a desire to stay at Newport He prayed and the Lord ministered to him about verse by verse teaching, from there with a burden for the lost (through his loving wife) more prayer was offered up and the hand of the Lord began to build a refuge for the lost and dying sheep of southern California. Simply Teach the Word, is what we were exhorted, have the best fed sheep possible, let the Spirit lead you in the ministry God has given. Be humble. These are a couple of things that we were instructed as pastors, we knew we were called God used Pastor Chuck to prepare us and equip us.
Yes we knew this day would come we just didn't think it would be yesterday.
Please pray for Kay, Paul, and the Smith children as they mourn the loss of husband , brother and father.
I will miss my Pastor and his love for God and his care for me.
PR

perplexed

I think I have visited this once before, if so please excuse my redundancy.
Why do people refuse something that's free.
        As a church we for many years at a yearly event where we live gave away free bibles, we never ran out and people were very reluctant to receive a Bible, a free one.
               Salvation why is it with the promise of a eternal life in the presence of God, people
                    refuse to except Jesus as their Savior.
                            People have no problems with free stuff and give aways at store and such but
                                        when it comes to Christ people close up and refuse to receive.
Puzzling
PR

Sunday

It's Sunday, the day we set aside to go to our favorite place of worship, and commune with Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit. Here is praying for you, that you are able to "cast your cares upon HIM' cause He cares for you. Have a blessed time at the feet of the Savior.
PR

I'm Blessed

I received word the other day that a person I know is getting married, I have watched her as grew up, she is a beautiful young Christian woman and I couldn't be happier for her. And i know that she will make a great wife and mother as the lord leads in her life. Congratulations Hannah, I am so very happy for you.
Blessings
PR

Where are you going?

 At study last night in the book of Acts Chapter 27, we looked at Paul's voyage to Rome, interestingly enough is that Paul was informed of the trip long before he was booked on the cruise. Ac 23:11 But the following night the Lord stood by him and said, "Be of good cheer, Paul; for as you have testified for Me in Jerusalem, so you must also bear witness at Rome."chapters later in 27 Paul is sent off under the watch of Agrippa, Festus, and the Lord ( not in order of importance). the trip ends in being caught up in a major storm, a Euroclydon, scripture states Ac 27:20 Now when neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest beat on us, all hope that we would be saved was finally given up. How often in the storms of life do you feel that way. but take heart, vs 22 states there would be no loss of life, they would only loose the ship (there were 276 people on board). What has the Lord told you He was going to do - Paul was going to Rome; God would get him there. Where are you going? God will get you there.
PR

Given the opportunity

Given the opportunity we would:
All be rich, without working
All healthy, without eating right
All be fit, without working out
All be sinless, even though we are sinners
All be righteous, in our own estimation
All be going to heaven, becasue we are not as bad as the other guy
All be chosen, for how could God over look US

All be going to hell, for we have forsaken the Lord and relied on self, not what Jesus did.

Saturday

Ah Saturday, a day to sleep in, catch up, go to sporting events, mow the lawn, and paint the house all before it gets hot. what a far cry from a day of rest isn't it. In this hectic busy life we need we need a day to catch up. would i rather it be Sunday, certainly not for Sunday is our day to worship the Lord together, our koinonia in Jesus. So when do we catch up, after working a 10 hour day? After the kids go to bed (10:00pm)?
I would like to have an answer to this question, but I don't maybe if god made the stand still, or made the clock run backwards this would help. I don't think so it would just add time for you to add to your already busy schedule. May if we just "acknowledge Him in all our ways He would direct our path.
PR

repent

In home group this week we were in Acts 26, Paul writes Acts 26:19,20 - 19 Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision: 20 But shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance. This struck me "repent and turn to god and do works meet for repentance", this could be one of the verses that we need to distinguish the saved from the unsaved- repentance is key and the work of repentance are needed- now this is not salvation by work in any sense, but a sign of genuine repentance and salvation. note this commentary on the word repent as used in Mt 3:2 and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!"
Repent- metanoeo .  This was the matter of the preaching.  The verb repent is either compounded of , after, and  to understand, which signifies that, after hearing such preaching, the sinner is led to understand, that the way he has walked in was the way of misery, death, and hell.  Or the word may be derived from  after and, madness, which intimates that the whole life of a sinner is no other than a continued course of madness and folly: and if to live in a constant opposition to all the dictates of true wisdom; to wage war with his own best interests in time and eternity; to provoke and insult the living God; and, by habitual sin, to prepare himself only for a state of misery, be evidences of insanity, every sinner exhibits them plentifully.  It was from this notion of the word, that the Latins termed repentance resipiscentia, a growing wise again, from re and sapere; or, according to Tertullian, Resipiscentia, quasi receptio mentis ad se, restoring the mind to itself: Contra Marcion, lib. ii.  Repentance, then, implies that a measure of Divine wisdom is communicated to the sinner, and that he thereby becomes wise to salvation.  That his mind, purposes, opinions, and inclinations, are changed; and that, in consequence, there is a total change in his conduct.  It need scarcely be remarked, that, in this state, a man feels deep anguish of soul, because he has sinned against God, unfitted himself for heaven, and exposed his soul to hell.  Hence, a true penitent has that sorrow, whereby he forsakes sin, not only because it has been ruinous to his own soul, but because it has been offensive to God. Thank you Adam Clarke for your commentary

I read a portion of scripture  2Sa 12:24 "Then David comforted Bathsheba his wife, and went in to her and lay with her. So she bore a son, and he called his name Solomon. Now the LORD loved him,"
it was the last part of this verse that caught my attention; Now the Lord loved him. Next verse says that they called his name Jediddiah (beloved of the Lord).
Think about this just for a moment; here is God stating that He loves Solomon, yet it would be Solomon who would build altars and worhip places for his pagan wives, and in doing so would turn his back to God.
This is amazing, Jesus loved us enough to die for our sins and in our demonstration of stupidity we turn our backs on Him, and this after we were yet sinners Christ died for us. Isn't that the casual way of the Christian today, we don't really grasp the love of Jesus for us, instead we by our lack of devotion to the Lord down play His love for us.

Pastors and Leaders Conference

Well our 2013 Pastors and Leaders Conference is in the books. It was a blessed as always Pastor Xavier Ries brought the word and the challenge for us to remain strong in these last days. Pastor Paul Smith (a first timer for us ) instructed us to be wise of the things or the last days. And Dr Ken Johnson brought forth the teachings of the early church fathers in 1and 2 Timothy. Our time of waiting on the Lord on Friday night was a Holy Ghost blessing. you can listen to the messages at the CCJC website if you missed it or want to hear it again. And for the ladies their is a message from Trudy Ries and Ruth Smith.
Blessing
PR

Basic Intructions

There are two groups of Scripture that can really help a believer to grow.
Proverbs 1-7- Directed to the son(except 4 where it says children) from a loving father
Matthew 5-7 Intruction from Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior about living your life in the current age.

What are the  benfits, well if you study out the Proverbs 1-7 they are basic teaching, as it says in Proverbs 1, to receive instruction of wisdom, justice, judgment and equity;to give prudence to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion. Discretion is something greatly lacking in the character of the church today.

In Matthew we see Jesus instructing those who are at the Mt of Beatitude, needing guidance and direction, for many would become followers, and His teaching would give them guidance and instruction about the world they will be returning to as they leave this mountian top teaching.

how strange

How strange is it that people who once walked with the Lord, switch churches, switch attitudes, and switch life styles. Case in point. when you start going to a church who's major emphisis is grace, some begin to act as if they were beack in the world, the sin that kept them captive becomes their grace sin of choice. and before you know it they are back to square one of there sinful past. How strange.

Scouting

The latest victory for the gay community, is the inclusion of openly gay youths into the Boy Scouts of America. Now some would say it is a hollow victory seeing how openly gay adults are still excluded, but in time this cancer of cultural conformity will see gay adults in the ranks of the boy scouts making their in-roads on the young men of America. 14 states in America have now recognized gay marriage. We don't know how many more will, but we know that the gay agenda will not stop until they have a complete victory with all the states in the union excepting gay marriage. So don't think that this is the end of the gay debate in scouting, the next moves are already being planned and will again soon assault the scouts of America. We will never again see things as they once were in scouting. I might suggest that soon the aspect of God in the oath will be challenged and then removed, with the ACLU making waves on behalf of someone who doesn't like God. This just what Paul was speaking of in 2Timothy 3:1But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come:
the reason is stated in verse 2-4 / 2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, 4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
So much for the aspect of being morally straight.
Maranatha

Sunday

As you struggle to get out of bed and off to worship may your hearts be ready to recieve what the Lord has for you today. For those of you who were up all night doing what ever it is you do, make an effort to hear from God today. If Sunday is your only day to do what you want - Remember " Lu 9:23 Then He said to them all, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me." amen

How fast must one move to get to the end.

I have noticed that since the last election we seem to have sped up getting to the end, end of what you might ask? How about the return of Christ, end of days, the final judgment, the rapture, the conflict of culture and Christianity, that should be enough. Morally our country is so far out of whack, if you are a moral God fearing person, you are thought to need mental evaluation and cultural repair. I can't see the Cleavers (Ward, June ,Wally and the Beav) fitting in here on planet earth any longer. Homo-unions(same sex marriages and relationships of same sex life partners)  are being recognized now throughout America, state by state falling in line with the polluted cultural bent of today.
In churches today, the cry of Grace, Grace, Grace is being championed in the sake of licentiousness and compromise, I have my liberty and my liberty is my right. And it takes a toll on the weak willed saints who once were free from the bondages of the world and are now being allowed to practice sins of their youth. Rather than press on for the things of Christ, press on to the higher calling, the church is settling in, to the ways of world, by modifying and rationalizing sin as OK in this present day.
       2 Timothy 3:1-5 1 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: 2 For men  will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, 4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!

And from such turn away