We experienced another person accepting Christ for the first time at Hillview this past Sunday. PTL!!!!!!! God is good and has blessed us. We need to continue to invite people who do not know Christ to church so they can hear the word of God. With that said, I want to comment about people coming forward in a worship service.
The Bible says, "How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?" (Romans 10:14) Now, I could get the big head and take a lot of the credit for the ones who come to the altar. But is it really my ministry that draws them? Here's what I think. The vast majority of those who come forward and accept Christ can trace the credit back to the person who was a friend to them and invited them or encouraged them to come. I just get to put the toppings on the desert. It's not me. It's YOU! You make the impact. You live the life. You are the open Bible people see and read. That, along with the moving of God's Holy Spirit (which is essential) is what does the trick. Then, they hear the word and accept Christ.
Matthew 5:16 "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven."
Let's keep the wave going. Invite someone to church this weekend that you've never invited before and watch God do His thing!
PB
What is a friend? Proverbs 17:17 "A friend loves at all times..." Friends are there no matter what. They support you, care for you, help when needed and pray for you. They are honest. They tell you things that may be difficult to bear because they love you. Specifically, a friend wants what's best for you.
Mark 2:1-5 says, "And again He entered Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that He was in the house. Immediately many gathered together, so that there was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door. And He preached the word to them. Then they came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men. And when they could not come near Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was. So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven you." Jesus not only healed the man physically but he forgave his sin.
If you knew the Master could heal one of your friends of an incurable disease, wouldn't you take him to Him? This weekend, you have the opportunity to see your friend healed - healed spiritually! Wouldn't it be AWESOME to see your friend walk down the isle of the church and come forward to accept Christ into their heart for the forgiveness of sin and see Him heal their life?
Be praying and thinking now who you could invite this weekend to hear the greatest story ever told. Make a difference in your friends life. Show them you care!
Praying for you all!
PB
In my daily Bible readings this past week, I read the last chapter in the book of Matthew where it says, "Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." (Matthew 28:18-20) Pretty self-explanatory.
We have a mandate to go. We have a motive to go. Do we have a mind to go? The word "go" is a verb - an action word. It assumes there is going to be action on the part of the one using the word. Jesus expects action on our part.
Now, let's understand something. I'm not talking about carrying a Bible under your arm everywhere you go. But I am talking about carrying God's word around with you at all times "in your head." Having a moderate understanding of salvation as explained by Jesus is important. That way whenever anyone approaches you or you are able to speak with someone, you won't fumble around on the important stuff.
HOMEWORK - go read and memorize one verse of scripture: JOHN 3:16. We'll start there. If you memorize that verse and break it down, you have all you need along with your personal testimony of how you accepted Christ.
See you tonight in our Elder led prayer meeting.
PB
Doug Donovan spoke at our Men's Breakfast this morning and did a fantastic job. He talked a lot about prayer and it brought something to mind that I have to share. So often when someone brings a situation or problem to us, we say "I'll pray for you." I worry this is often used as a casual response and there is a danger of it becoming nothing more than a cliché. How serious are you when you say those words?
They are powerful words. Prayer is a powerful thing. We move Heaven and God moves earth and its events when we pray. I made a commitment a long time ago not to lie. When I tell someone I'm going to pray, as soon as I possibly can I stop what I'm doing and pray as I promised. We receive prayer requests from a lot of different avenues: personal requests, FaceBook, Twitter, the Hillview Prayer Blog and many others. We need to be more serious about prayer.
We had our first elder led prayer meeting this past Wednesday night and there were only a handful in attendance. It is so sad that God's people don't recognize where God's power is displayed so tremendously in our life. Prayers are more powerful than atomic bombs or hurricanes. Prayers have moved armies, healed the sick, helped on a school test, changed the course and direction of our lives and brought us to where we are. It's time we get serious about prayer.
We are postponing the series on I-Family until later. God has a message for all of us to hear. Be here at Hillview tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. for Sunday School and 11 a.m. for church to hear what God has to say. Begin praying now that God will use this time to change all of our lives!
Love you all.
PB
Trunk or Treat and the Chili Cook-Off were a huge success. Over 100 people attended Wednesday night and it was the first time for many of them. The kids and even the adults were all dressed up. There was a lot of excitement in the air. The tension ran high as our three highly qualified judges tasted each entry. The winner for the Chili Cook-Off was Carol Meeker and boy was her chili good! There are over 60 pictures in the PHOTO section of the web-site so go and check them out.
Today, we had work day at the church. We had about 20 of the Hillview faithful and a lot was accomplished. It won't be long until the new "state of the art" Audio/Visual room will be on-line.
I want to say a special thanks to EVERYONE who made this week so AWESOME by participating in the church-wide activities. It's people like you who show your love for God and a heart for Him and His church.
I also want to thank Kyle & Jessica Topy and Dwayne & Angela Young for their effort in the success of the Trunk or Treat. Special thanks to trustee Jerry Young and the crew for their hard work today for Work Day.
All of you are loved so much! Blessings.
PB
I was watching the movie "All Through The Night" with Jackie Gleason as Starchy and Humphrey Bogart playing Gloves Donahue. Gloves was tracking down a Nazi spy ring. An old movie but worth the watch. There was one scene where Gloves was being chased by the bad guys. He shoots at one of the villains several times and then runs out of bullets in his six-shooter. He looks frustrated at the gun and pitches it into the woods. That caught my attention. I've seen a lot of movies where people throw guns away when there empty. Why? Guns are expensive. They should hang on to them just in case they run by a place where they can buy bullets. Seems like a waste to me.
As parents, sometimes I think we throw the gun away too soon. Someone in the family has their heart set on doing something you know they shouldn't do or go where they shouldn't go. We give our defense, argue, and listen as they cry and beg and, sometimes, get very upset. So, against our good common sense, we give in and let them have their way. Is that wise?
Proverbs 19:18 says, "Chasten thy son while there is hope, and let not thy soul spare for his crying." (KJV) WOW! Solomon put it very plainly. He knew the mind and attitude of the common teenager even way back in his day. In reality, children are the same now as they always have been. My wife wisely advised me one time to "pick your fights." If it's worth standing firm, stand and don't let the tears distract you from what's right. If it's something that is not distracting or dangerous, sometimes it's best to give in. But when you know it is not in the best interest of the child or family, stand your ground. Hang on to your gun and don't throw it away - proverbially speaking.
God Bless You! We're in this together.
Bill
We just concluded a series of services within our local conference called a "revival". Neil Gilliland from the International Missions office of our denomination spoke and did a phenomenal job. His messages were so practical and to the point. One of the things he referred to a few times during the revival was our attitude towards life.
It seems that a lot of people, maybe the majority, always look at the glass being half empty rather than half full. Now I know that we all encounter instances that are sometimes severe - like the loss of a job or the death of a loved-one. Remember this: our understanding of how big God is and the power He has is seen in our response to those "severe" times.
My dad was married to my mom for over 30 years. During the majority of her life with him, she had Multiple Sclerosis (MS). She was not even supposed to see me enjoy my 12th birthday but she did. Later on, she was diagnosed with *** cancer - a cancer that took her life at the young age of 54. During all of this time my dad was a pastor. He not only had the care of the church he was responsible for but the care of his wife - my mom.
In all of that time, I never heard a word of regret come out of his mouth. He was happy with his beautiful wife and his job as a pastor and just trusted God that He would take care of these "severe" situations.
Whenever a situation occurs, we have a choice. We can look at it with the "half empty" mentality or we can try to understand that God has His purpose - His will planned for every situation and event in our lives.
Trust God. I know times get tough. I have been and will be there again. I have learned this past week from Neil that in all things, I need to be content and just trust the One who loves me and gave His life for me (Hebrews 13:5).
Blessings!
PB
Once again tomorrow, I will be conducting a funeral. I don’t know how many I have done in my life but I’d say it’s approaching 100. This service will be a little closer to my heart because it is the great aunt of my wife, Cheri. There will be several family members there that I know God wants to speak to so I want to make sure I do it right and let God have total use of me.
Every funeral reminds me of the brevity of life. I was thinking yesterday that if you would take the whole of our life from birth to demise and compare it to the hard to understand concept of eternity, it would be like contrasting a single, solitary grain of sand with ALL the sand in ALL the world. Life is so short yet we seem to focus so much on that little grain of sand we call our life.
God doesn’t look at life that way. A couple scriptures give us insight into God’s perspective: James 4:14 “whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.” 2 Peter 3:8 “But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” Psalm 116:15 “Precious in the sight of the LORD Is the death of His saints.”
All these verses teach us that God looks at our lives with an eternal perspective. He is aware and involved in our extremely short life here on earth but is more concerned about our grain of sand within the realm of the kingdom – within the realm of eternity.
After reading Psalm 116:15 above, I guess God gets all excited and looks forward to our death so we can be with Him and see all He has prepared for us. I wonder - should we change our perspective? Absolutely! Let’s be less concerned with the grain of sand and more concerned about the eternal impact we make for God while we have the opportunity - before our vapor disapears.
Ecclesiastes 7:1 “A good name is better than precious ointment, And the day of death than the day of one's birth.”
Have a great day with the proper perspective!Bill
For the past few Wednesday nights I have been challenged by a few of the young boys in our youth group to play a game that I played when I was young - P.I.G. That's the game where you shoot a basketball from somewhere on the court and, if you make it, the person following you has to make the same shot the same way. It's a little easier than its counterpart H.O.R.S.E. Needless to say I beat all four of the boys hands down two weeks ago. NO! I did not let those little boys win!!! I do have a little competitiveness in my blood (though not much). Then, this past Wednesday, I lost. A little 10 year old boy, Justin Coffey to be exact, destroyed me! I P.I.G.'ed out and he didn't even have a P. It didn't even take but about eight minutes until he had me crawling off the court with my tail between my legs.
I've learned a lot from these boys. Danny, Ray, Austin, Justin - all of them - they love to win and they LOVE beating an adult at their own game. They are good at P.I.G. and they are good boys. I learned something else. Kids like to play games and they enjoy playing with adults. In fact, it makes them feel special. Funny how we see this at school and when they are involved in recreational sports like football, softball and soccer but we miss in at the church. We think church is just for the spiritual. Well, in a way, it is. Can P.I.G. be a spiritual thing? Even though I may get a little carnal out on the court, spending quality time with the boys and showing them that I love them is a very spiritual thing.
I've worked with the children in church since I graduated high school. In fact, I spoke at a church on a Sunday night a couple weeks ago and the pastor of the church was in my Junior Boys Sunday School class and children's church over 20 years ago. I am so proud of him and the work he is doing for the kingdom. The trouble and struggles he gave me as well as all the time I spent with him were well worth it now that I see how God is using him. Amazing what level of impact we can have on those we minister to.
I want to encourage every parent, grandparent and attender to get involved with the youth of the church in some way or another. It's one of the greatest and funnest ways to make an impact on a soul. They need us! They WANT us and our involvement in their lives. Today, say a special prayer for the young people of the church. School has begun and they need those passionate prayers as they traverse through the halls of our totally secular schools. Pray also for the teachers, youth pastors and workers who invest their time in their lives.
Well, tonight will be another game of P.I.G. Watch out guys. I'm ready to beat your socks off!
Have a great day!
PB
I'm back. Wow. Wasn't as bad as I thought. Probably need to get a new bicycle seat though (ouch). The prayer time was great. Several people waved, said Hi and even spoke to me. That surprised me! It took me 30 minutes to go the 5 miles. Is that good? Bad? I peddled the whole time.
1Timothy 4:8 says, "For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come." Paul doesn't say "exercise is of no profit" so it must have benefit. I guess if I want to hang around this world and get as much as I can done for Christ, I should probably exercise as often as I can. I think I'll start out with riding the 5 miles every other day and increase from there.
Setting priorities is always a challenge. Many times, our activities and interests set our priorities for us. A man, woman, boy or girl that is proactive and sets their own priorities will have greater success than those who don't - who go with the flow. I think I'll move exercise up on my priority list - but not too high. God, family and many other important things need to stay at the top.
Well, I'm off to grab the peanut M&M's I used as an illustration in last nights sermon. Should be able to finish off the remainder of the 42 ounce bag I bought for $9.98 in less than half an hour!
Have a great day!
PB
Well, I think the time has come!
I have been hyper all my life. When I was a kid, they always said my brother, the docile one, would be the preacher of the family. They never said that about me. I couldn't stay in one place for more than a minute and I would dart to the next adventure. To this day, my mind travels faster and further than my body ever could.
Enter 40 something! Still hyper and a little A.D.D. and O.C.D but the body is struggling to keep up. So, I've decided to day o commit to get fit (or at least try to). There are several of my friends on Facebook that are constantly bragging all the time: "I walked 4.5 miles today" or "Got my five mile run in this morning-feel great". I hate those people. But, I guess I should think seriously about my health and do something about it.
So, I am going to ride my bike. Let's start with 5 miles. While I'm at it, I'm going to make it a prayer ride. I am going to pray using the PRAY acronym (P-Praise R-Repent A-Ask Y-Yield). OK. Her I go. I'll finish the blog when I get back. Hmmm... sure is hot out here. Pray for me that I don't get hit by a car or die of a heart attack!
Have you ever thought that you may one day be asked to be a martyr for the cause of Christ?
I just finished the book "In The Presence Of My Enemies" by Gracia Burnham. Gracia and her husband Martin were missionaries for New Tribes Mission organization in the Philippines. It is the account of her and her husbands kidnapping at the hands of the Abu Sayyaf - an extremest Islamic terrorist group located in the Philippines with connections to Al Qaeda. For over a year, they endured hunger, hardship and even torture. They were among several others that were kidnapped while in the Dos Palmas resort in the southern Philippine islands. I encourage you to pick-up a copy and read it. It's one of those books you just can't put down.
Reading this book brought tears to my eyes several times and reminded me of some of the statements Jesus made regarding the subjects of persecution and martyrdom. Matthew 5:10-12 says, "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake.Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you." It's mentioned in Matthew 24 and Luke 21 as well as many other passages. The majority of the apostles, including Paul, were martyred. Should we expect to confront this in our lifetime?
Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (2006) says that an average of 171,000 Christians worldwide are martyred for their faith per year. Voice Of The Martyrs is constantly reporting on persecution and martyrdom around the world. Most American Christians have no idea of what many missionaries endure at the hands of those who literally hate the name of Christ. Distributing Bibles, having a church gathering, conducting a Bible study or just giving a cup of water in Jesus name can result in prison, torture or even death.
Whenever I hear of another Christian going to his or her death because of Christ, I remember the story of Stephen and how Jesus stood up to welcome the first martyr and possibly first Christian to enter Heaven under the new covenant. As he gazed at Jesus standing by the Father awaiting his arrival, he fell asleep. I hope current day martyrs who have given their livelihood and their lives for the cause of Christ experience the same welcome.
Is it coming? Will it happen here? In my opinion, it's getting closer every day and approaching more rapidly than ever before. Let's prepare ourselves, our children and our grandchildren for what lies ahead. Let's do all we can to make sure they stay true to Christ and the faith and don't become a statistic of 1 Timothy 4:1, "Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith..."
God Bless You!
PB
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