Purity

SCRIPTURE

And you know that Jesus came to take away our sins, and there is no sin in Him.

~I John 3:5, NLT

QUOTE

All those who were close to Jesus had the same testimony, He was the Lamb of God, spotless and unblemished.

~T.W. Hunt

Jesus was pure but He never talked about it, not in relationship to Himself. No man ever lived who had more adoring women around Him than Jesus. They followed Him and supported Him with their means [Luke 8:3]. They were there at the cross, unafraid to be close, they stood vigil until His suffering was over and then they watched the men put Him in a tomb. If Jesus had been lustful, He could have taken advantage of their affection but He was not lustful, nor was he puritanical as are so many men of the cloth. Jesus was not worried about reputation: He befriended prostitutes and tax collectors which earned Him the title “Friend of Sinners.” He also had meals with the Pharisees. According to the testimony of those who knew him, He never yielded to lust in any form or fashion: He was pure, perfectly and completely pure.

• TODAY WE PRAY FOR SENIORS
• LCBS at 9:15, Worship Celebration at 10:15 and 6:00. This morning we will be talking about Jesus before Pilot and tonight the unnecessary mocking and abuse that Jesus endured.
• Beautiful Weather: LORD we thank You for Spring.

No Duplicity

SCRIPTURE

No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing.

~Philippians 3:13, NLT

QUOTE

Inspired men inspire.

~Leonard Ravenhill

What could Satan do with Paul? There’s not much he could do with a man who had narrowed his interest to one thing, knowing Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His suffering. Paul had no side issues so Satan had no way to distract him. He had no ambition so there was nothing to cause him jealously. Paul had no reputation so there was nothing for him to defend. He had no possessions so there was nothing for him to lose. He had no rights so there was no way he could be wronged. He was already broken so no one could break him. He was already dead so no one could kill him. He was the least of the least so no one could demote him. He had suffered the loss of all things so no one could defraud him. It’s no wonder Paul’s name was known in hell: he was a terror to The Terrorist [Satan].

• Today we pray for those facing TRIALS: Kenny and family plus my Aunt Angie.
• We are very grateful to Teddy, Lisa, the girls, Mr. Charles and Mrs. Ann for being such gracious host. We love FRIENDSHIP Baptist Church and thank them for putting up with us. We had good services. The singing was great. We are very thankful the LORD allowed us to come and be a part of this special week. God bless Teddy and family and all the folks at FRIENDSHIP.
• One little story: We talked about Henry’s pet snake on Tuesday and what I would do to it. Bernard and his wife Patty carried us to lunch yesterday and she warned me when we got into their van that they were pet lovers. I explained that I do not feel the same about dogs as I do snakes. She said, “Good, because we have a dog and Bernard loves that dog. At night he kisses the dog and then looks at me and says, ‘good night.'”
• A note to Deidre: we ate at Ruby Tuesday’s last night.

Hindrances To Revival #17 — CLUTTER

 

 

DAY 21 of 24

SCRIPTURE

For God is not an indifferent bystander. He’s actively cleaning house, torching all that needs to burn, and he won’t quit until it’s all cleansed. God himself is Fire!

~Hebrews 12:29, MSG

QUOTE

For God is not an indifferent bystander. He’s actively cleaning house, torching all that needs to burn, and he won’t quit until it’s all cleansed. God himself is Fire!

~Amy Carmichael

A part of the maturing process is to narrow our focus and get rid of all the extra baggage and junk that is cluttering our life. We do not have the time to be consumed with trivial pursuits. Whereas we do not generally think of clutter as sin, I think the great majority of us have to confess, “We have too much clutter in our lives.” We are like a dirty garage that needs a good house cleaning. Just as Jesus cleansed the temple, so He wills to cleanse and purify our lives. Why not pray for God to send a REVIVAL that sweeps through out lives like a ragging fire burning up all the junk and clutter; all the stuff that has no eternal significance. God’s Holy Spirit is a fire! Would you join me in praying for the fire to fall on DBC.

I don’t get involved that much in political affairs: to be honest, I am put out with both Republican and Democratic  but most of our elections are not a choose between good and bad but between bad and worse. In the presidential elections, we have been forced to vote for the lesser evil. The democratic party platform has not changed. Parker Griffin changes with the wind, now he is running again as a democrat but says he is pro-life and pro-family…Hogwash. Anyone who aligns themselves with the democratic party is supporting the party platform. Democrats have to sign a pledge, an oath to support the party line. I cannot accept this “I am a Christian but I vote democrat because.” Most of the folks that I have heard make such a statement are voting their pocket book, not their conscience. As Christians we are to vote with conviction no matter what the personal coast. Killing unborn babies is wrong and without the democrats, it would not be happening. They are responsible for the unconstitutional right to kill a baby and they have supported it with vigor and keep it from being overturned. I make no apology as a man of God for denouncing such evil. I will not tell you who to vote for but I will tell you this: you will be held accountable for supporting any organization or political party that condones and promotes the killing of babies and the rights of sexual perverts to declare themselves a family. Furthermore, I have no anxiety that you can take a bible and prove me wrong.

Let me tell you a story, a parable or allegory. Once upon a time, there was a preacher who had been blessed greatly by our all powerful, merciful and loving God. As he grew old, he thought to himself, “I have worked hard for these many year,  I do not have the energy I once had, so this is what I will do, I will let up a bit and take it easy.” So he slacked his pace and let some very difficult chores go undone. The church he served began to decline. First there was a slight decrease and then it seemed to pick up momentum.  Attendance went down and so did everything else. The people complained but that’s all they did. The preacher looked in every direction as he tried to find a way to turn things around. One night he came up with an idea, “We have a money problem: what we need is more money.” So he launched a campaign to raise more money; he began to preach the same sermon every Sunday, we need more money. Our staff needs a raise, our parking lots needs paving, we have buildings that need painting, we need another van to pick up kids for AWANA. Our problem is MONEY! We need more money. If you folks would give us more money, we could fix all our problems. Then he heard a voice from heaven say, “Money is not your problem.”

Whereas more money can fix some things, it will not fix the preacher, nor the church. Money is not the problem for the church and it is not the problem in education! If you think that throwing more money at a problem with fix it, you are not very intelligent. If you try to convince others that more money will fix the problem, you are probably a con artist. Our problem in inward and spiritual. We need REVIVAL far more than we need money. We need to love our neighbor more than we need money. As a matter of fact, when you think this issue through, money is not our greatest need. We can use it as an excuse to cover our lack of effort, but it is not the focal problem.  In education, we need good leadership from Washington down. The problem with education is Alabama is that it has been run by the Teacher’s Union, not the teachers and certainly not the parents. I like the teachers: the teachers are not the problem. We have too many bureaucratic parasites who have found themselves a home within the system. They make 6 figures and never set foot into a classroom. Our money does not get to the class room. We have had poor management and no accountability. I am not telling you who to vote for but I will tell you this: I am opposed to any additional tax whether it be for education, preachers retirement, fire departments or new cars for State Troopers. Furthermore, I resent scare tactics in political adds or someone telling me who to vote for. You vote your conscience and I’ll vote mine.

P.S. Our blog readership is down due to REVIVAL THEME but it will probably spike today. It will be better for me if it doesn’t.

• Today we pray for the WORLD.
• A lot happening this week: DHS Girls advance to State and will play twice on Wednesday. If they win out on Wednesday, they play in finals Thursday night.
• AWANA children Hayride this Wednesday night with STEW and CHILI from 5:30-6:30. No charge. Your option is a dessert, drink, crackers or Frito chips for chili.
• Friday at 7:00 am we feed DHS football team: 11:30 SENIOR ADULT FISH FRY and at 5:30 TRUNK-A-TREAT.
• Saturday night: PRAYER WHEEL call around begins at 8:00, please do not break the chain. Luke kicks it off at 8:00 and it is to go all away around and back to Luke.
• A.R.K.–Act of Redemptive Kindness. You do two: one to a very active member and one to an inactive or randomly active member. I want us to continue to pray and express our love for each other. I have heard several talking about their plans and looking for ideas. If you have a Senior Adult on your mind: they would love a visit and a hug.