The weekly update to our website, will be posted as soon as we can. The updates are ready, but our Internet service is ou and has been since yesterday. Comcast keeps telling me it is because of the recent inclement weather in our area, and they are working with the power company to restore service asap. It does not ring true to me for a couple of reasons. 1. Our power never went out and 2. Our internet did not go down until nearly 30 hours after the storm. At any rate we will update the site when service is restored. I am posting this via my smartphone.
Click here to read the Old Paths Journal.
Prerequisites for the Miraculous
1 Kings 17:13
"And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son."
When Elijah asked the widow woman to cook him some food, her response to him was, "I have not..." The only thing this poor widow woman had was enough food to cook one more meal for her and her son, and then they planned to starve to death. The fact is that this woman needed a miracle if she and her son were going to live. Yet, in the verse above, Elijah gave her three commands in order for her to see the miraculous. The same three commands that this lady had to do to see the miraculous in her life is the same thing you must do if you want to see the miraculous in your life.
First, Elijah told her to "Fear not." You will never accomplish the miraculous if you allow fear to hold you back. Though at times fear can motivate you to do more, most of the time fear will hold people back from doing something for God. Fear will keep the Christian from going soul winning. Fear will keep the young person from stepping out by faith into full-time service. Fear will keep the Christian from giving that extra offering. If you listen to it, fear will keep you from being able to see the miraculous. Whenever you face something great for God, it is natural to have fear, but you must not listen to the voice of fear, for it will keep you from seeing God work the miraculous through your life.
Second, Elijah told her to "go." When you decide not to listen to the voice of fear, then the next step is to step out and go. It is always the first step that will be the hardest step. Once you make the first step and go, then you will find the next steps will come naturally. However, you must be the one to make yourself go. The only way you will silence fear is by taking the first step. You may be fearful about God's will for your life, but you must take the first step to do it. When you do, fear will subside. You may be fearful about going soul winning, but you must take the first step and fear will step aside. It is always the first step that is the hardest step, but if you will take it you will find that fear will begin to slip away.
Last, Elijah told her to "do." Once you start going, then you must do what you are supposed to do. There are some who actually take the first step to go, but they end up getting side tracked with something else. Be careful about allowing other things to side track you from God's will. When Satan realizes that you won't listen to fear and that you have taken the first step to go, then his tactic is to side track you from what you stepped out to do. Don't let anything keep you from doing what God wants you to do. The miraculous is ahead if you will keep on going.
Moreover, don't let discouragement keep you from doing God's will. You may not see the miraculous immediately, but you must keep on doing if you are going to see it. Discouragement will set in, but you must keep on going in times of discouragement. Don't let discouragement keep you from seeing the miraculous.
Do you need a miracle in your life? Then don't listen to fear, and take the first step to go and do what God wants you to do. When you go, be sure to do what you set out to do with your first step. Don't let anything sidetrack you from doing God's will, and you will see God work the miraculous in your life.
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Actions for the Early Stages of Leadership
1 Kings 12:1
"And Rehoboam went to Shechem: for all Israel were come to Shechem to make him king."
When a person acquires a new position of leadership, the first few months of how they lead may determine their influence and longevity in that position. When Rehoboam acquired the position of king after Solomon passed away, he made some huge mistakes that limited his scope of leadership. Instead of copying Solomon's actions when he became king, to his detriment Rehoboam tried to blaze his own trail. You will find five things from Rehoboam's life that will help you when you acquire a new position of leadership.
First, listen to your followers. When I say listen to your followers, I mean it. Too many leaders act like they are listening, but they are only letting the follower vent hoping that it will be enough. Rehoboam listened to his followers, but not really. They told him how they would follow, but he didn't listen. If a leader will listen to those whom they lead, they will find out how to lead them. Followers will often in conversations reveal how they follow. If a leader will listen, he will be able to understand his followers desires and need for leadership in their life. Let me caution you, when I say listen to your followers, I am not saying to let the followers dictate where you will stand on truth and principle, I am talking about how they will follow your leadership. Whenever you acquire a new position, it is important that you immediately establish a relationship with your followers by listening to them when they speak.
Second, get wise counsel. Just because you have acquired position does not mean that you know everything about leading. Rehoboam made the mistake of listening to his peers and not to wise counselors. When you acquire position, find a wise older people who can help counsel you in your endeavors. Wise older people will have the counsel you need to help you establish your position so that you can better help your followers.
Third, serve your followers. The greatest mistake many leaders make is they stop serving people and expect people to serve them. The purpose of leadership is to serve those whom they lead. When you acquire position, realize the purpose of your leadership is to serve those whom you lead. Find out what they need and serve them. You hold your position of leadership to help improve them so they can better serve the LORD. Never make your position about what you can get out of it, but make your position about how you can use it to the betterment of your followers.
Fourth, don't entertain disloyalty. Rehoboam's first mistake was he gave a hearing to Jeroboam who was disloyal to his father. Often new leaders will think they will be able to lead someone who was disloyal to the previous leader. Let me make this clear, you should always be wary of disloyal people. Until they get right over their disloyalty, you should keep them at arms length. You are most likely not a better leader than the previous person whom a disloyal person would not follow, so eventually they will be disloyal to you when the newness wears off. Don't welcome disloyalty, but keep them at arms length.
Last, walk with God. The sad part about Rehoboam in this story is you don't see God mentioned one time until the very end. If Rehoboam would have walked with God, he may have been able to establish his leadership role in Israel. When you acquire leadership, keep walking with God. Nothing will help you to be a better leader than walking with God. God is the One Who gives position, and He is also the One Who has the wisdom to help you with that position.
Serving people through leadership is a wonderful life. Learn from the principles above how to conduct yourself in the early stages of leadership and you will have many years to serve those whom you lead.
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Don't Cheat Your Foundation
1 Kings 7:10
"And the foundation was of costly stones, even great stones, stones of ten cubits, and stones of eight cubits."
One of the most costly parts of building a home is the foundation. When Solomon built his home, you see that he didn't cut corners in the cost of the foundation. The verse says, "And the foundation was of costly stones..." If you're going to build a home that you plan to live in the rest of your life, then it would be wise to be sure that the foundation is not the area where you try to cut corners.
However, in the building of a home (and I am not talking about the house you live in) it seems that many people try to cheat the foundation only to see their home in turmoil. The home has been under attack since the Garden of Eden. Not only did Satan attack God's Word when he tempted Eve, but he was also attacking the foundation of the home when he went to Eve and not Adam. Satan knows that if he can destroy the home, then he can destroy the church, thus destroying God's influence in the world. Whatever you do, don't be cheap in the area of making the foundation of your home sure. There are four areas you need to be sure that you keep right to make the foundation of your home strong.
First, don't cheat God. God should be the foundation of every home. When you take away the founder of the home, you take away the core of the foundation. For any home to be what it ought to be, then God should be the core that the home revolves around. In other words, everyone in the home should have a walk with God. If one member of the home doesn't walk with God, then the foundation of the home will weakened. The whole family should be sure to serve God together. When the whole family serves God together, then you have a home whose foundation is strong.
Second, don't cheat church. God started two institutions, the home and the church. Both institutions need each other to be strong. Your home will not be what it ought to be if you don't attend every church service. You should never let anything keep you out of church. It is highly important to be faithful to church for the foundation of your home to be strong.
Third, be sure to keep your marriage relationship healthy. If the marriage relationship is weak, then the home will be weak. You will never have a strong home if the marriage is struggling. Too many times parents will work more on the parent/child relationship than they do the marriage relationship, only to destroy the home. If the husband and wife have a strong relationship, then you will often find that the children will be happy as well. When children see their parents are happily married it gives them security, which keeps them from looking to other sources to get security.
Time is the last key to having a good foundation for the home. You will never have a good home without time together. Notice, I didn't say playing together, but I said time together. The family can have time together serving God. I'm not against a family having time to play together, but the family also needs other time together. Often you will find people thinking family vacation once a year is what will give them a strong home. That is not the case! Time must be spent together every day to keep the foundation of the home strong.
It is imperative to the success of your home that you keep the foundation strong. You will not have the home that you should have without all four areas mentioned above. Each area is important to keeping the foundation of your home strong. Don't cheat the foundation in any of these areas, for it will weaken your home when you do.
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Loving Your Man of God
2 Samuel 23:15-16
"And David longed, and said, Oh that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate! And the three mighty men brake through the host of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem, that was by the gate, and took it, and brought it to David: nevertheless he would not drink thereof, but poured it out unto the LORD."
What an incredible story about these three men who risked their life to get David a drink of water. In the verses above you find that David quietly longed for a drink of water from the well of Bethlehem. David had been out fighting battles for the LORD, when he got a little homesick and simply wanted to have a taste of the water he had drank for so many years. Three men heard David speak about his longing, and they decided to do something about it. Their action was not a normal action, for they literally risked their lives to fulfill the desire of their man of God. No one would ever question their love for their leader. No doubt these men held a special place in David's heart because he knew they loved him.
Let me ask you a question; does your man of God know that you love him? I did not ask you if you think he knows that you love him, but does he unequivocally know that you love him? What do you do to show your love to your man of God? Though you probably will never have to risk your life for your man of God to prove your love, I do believe this story shows us how you can demonstrate your love to him.
Let me make this clear, every man of God needs people to love him. One thing a preacher will constantly wonder is who loves him. I know this may seem petty, but when you are constantly being analyzed by people, knowing that someone loves you unconditionally is comforting and strengthening to a man of God. Your preacher needs to know that your love for him does not have strings attached.
Moreover, you will never know how to demonstrate your love to your man of God unless you listen for his desires. Often your man of God will expose his desires through his sermons. He may use his desires as an illustration to prove a point. Though he probably is not doing this to get anything from you, if you listen you will know what he truly desires.
Furthermore, you will never be able to demonstrate your love to your man of God until you lay your agenda aside. Too many people have an agenda to get close to the preacher so they can receive position. Your desire to love your man of God should not be so that you can get position, but to simply love him for his position and for who he is. To the man of God who is observant, he can detect when someone demonstrates love for position. This does not endear that type of person to the man of God, but rather it puts him on edge to wonder what they will do if he doesn't give them position. Your purpose of loving your man of God should be for the sole purpose of loving him.
Last, your degree of sacrifice determines your degree of love. The three men from the story above were willing to sacrifice their lives for David. There was no question as to the degree of their love, because their sacrifice proved it. Most of the time it is not the amount of money spent on something that shows your sacrifice, but rather the time out of your busy schedule to show your love that demonstrates your depth of love. With the busy schedules of today, simply taking time to express your love to your man of God will help him to know that you love him.
Listen for the little desires that your man of God expresses and try to meet those desires. Your man of God needs to know that you love him, and little expressions of love on a regular basis will help him to know how much you love him.
MILWAUKEE (AP) — A growing number of pastors in the United Methodist Church say they’re no longer willing to obey a church rule that prohibits them from officiating at same-sex marriages, despite the potential threat of being disciplined or dismissed from the church.
via theblaze.com
For the life of me, I cannot fathom a "church" or Christian "clergy" accepting the homosexual life style. Why don't they accept the "drunkards" or the "murderers" life style? Sin is sin. These people ought to get honest and take the name "church" out of their name and the "clergy" should quit and get an honest job instead of misrepresenting Almighty God. Does any one remember Sodom and Gomorrah?
The 06/19/2011 FBC bulletin is now up at www.baptist-city.com.
"I See the Blood" is the song of the week now at www.baptist-city.com
Music from the services of FBC on 6/12/11 is now available at www.baptist-city.com.
Click here to read the Old Paths Journal.
The Friendship Test
2 Samuel 9:1
"And David said, Is there yet any that is left of the house of Saul, that I may shew him kindness for Jonathan's sake?"
One of the greatest assets in life is friendship. No doubt everyone wants to have friends. Even God desires friends, that is why He called Abraham, "the Friend of God." Because we were created in God's image, and because God desires to have friends, then that means God created you with the desire to have friends. No doubt, one of the greatest influences on a person's life is their friends.
According to the Scriptures, Saul's son, Jonathan, was David's dearest friend. When you read the story of their friendship, their friendship almost made them as close as brothers. Jonathan proved his friendship by risking his life to save David. These two men were the ideal pattern of friendship. In the verse above, you find that even though Jonathan was dead, David still honored his friendship by showing kindness to one of Jonathan's sons. However, in the verse above, I believe you will find the true test of friendship.
First, friendship is for your lifetime. It is interesting that though Jonathan was dead, David still honored his friend. David didn't end his friendship when Jonathan died. David realized that friendship was based on his lifetime and not the lifetime of his friend. When you decide to be a friend to someone, you should understand that true friendship will cover your lifetime. Even if your friend has passed away, you are to continue to honor your friendship with them for the rest of your life. This is important to understand before we go on to the rest of the friendship test.
Second, friendship is about what you can put into it. I fear that too many people choose someone to be their friend for what they can get out of it. That is not true friendship! In fact, in a true friendship you don't look for the other person to do anything for you. This is why many people get angry with someone whom they call their friend. They get upset because their friend never does anything for them. Friendship should never be about what you get out of it, but what you can put into it. True friendship is about what you can do for them and not what they can do for you.
Third, death is the greatest test of friendship. Though Jonathan was dead, David still honored the desires of his friend. Though Jonathan was dead, David still honored the promises he made to his friend. You are not a true friend to someone when you stop honoring their desires and promises once they die. I think of Dr. Jack Hyles, my good friend and pastor who was no doubt one of the greatest preachers of my generation. Many people called Dr. Hyles their friend, and yet now that he has died many have not honored what he preached and that for which he stood. These were not friends at all, they were opportunists. The true friend will continue to honor the desires and promises of their friend even after their death.
Last, don't wait to show your appreciation. If you have a true friend, then don't wait until they die to start honoring them. It would be good for you to periodically do something for your friends. Honoring your friend when they are dead does them no good. You should honor them when they are alive. If you have not done anything to honor your friends, then you are a poor friend.
Do you pass the friendship test? If not, then start working on being a good friend to your friends. If you did pass the test, then continue to work on being a better friend to your friends. One day you will grow old, and when you are old, how you treated your friends will be revealed. Be good to your friends at all times, for they are the ones who stand with you when nobody else does.