God Goes Before Us!
2-15-2022
J. Fields
Over the past couple of years, we have all faced a completely new challenge in our lives. Almost two years ago Covid-19 hit our world in a way that I doubt any of us ever would have imagined. The world was in complete shock and for many, the jolt of stress was almost unbearable. People all over the world lost their job, restaurants were closing, shopping centers were running out of food, toilet tissue, and of course cleaning supplies, it literally felt as if the world was coming to an end. Anxiety, stress, and the overall quality of life have become out of control. Fast forward two years and we are still wrestling with this evil sickness called Covid.
I’ve often pondered and have spoken with God many times about why He just doesn’t end this whole Covid ordeal. Like many of you, I am burned out wondering if every time someone coughs are they spreading Covid, or every time I touch something do I need to drench myself in hand sanitizer and don’t even get me started about wearing a mask, oh how I’m tired of masks! At the end of the day, I want to be healthy, I want to stay as far away from Covid as possible but even with all these “so-called proper disinfecting procedures” I still ended up getting Covid. Even though these past couple of years have not been the most exciting I’ve still learned some important lessons.
What I’ve come to understand is that you can and should try and protect yourself from anything unclean but at the end of the day if you slip up just a tad bit what is unclean doesn’t stop trying to make you dirty. Isn’t that exactly how the enemy is Unfortunately, because of the “fall of man,” we now live in a world that is completely consumed by sin. The enemy doesn’t take a day off, he is constantly on the prowl like a lion looking at whom he can devour. If you are in a relationship with Jesus Christ, you have nothing to fear. The enemy wants to fill you with worry, stress, and doubt but that poison can only pierce you if you allow it to.
If you have made the decision to surrender your life to Jesus then you are protected with the strongest protection available, the Holy Spirit. The enemy understands that he can’t attack your heart because once you say yes to God the Holy Spirit takes over dominion within your heart so what satan will do is attack your mind. If you aren’t filling your mind with Scripture, you are leaving open space that the enemy can slide into. If doubt, worry, stress, or anything else that you know is not of God starts to come to your mind I want you to stop what you are doing, tell the enemy he is not welcome in your head, and remind him who it is that you serve. Don’t allow anything negative to take root within your body. You are a child of the Almighty God, the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords. Stop trying to fight every battle on your own, believe me, if you do it alone you will fail. If you say yes to God He will say yes to you, it will never be you fighting your battles but the Lord fighting for you. Jesus wants you to lean on Him. He wants to take away everything that makes you stressed or anxious and replace it with joy and peace.
The enemy is similar to Covid, if “you” try and protect yourself no matter what “you” do you can still be consumed but if God stays in control, He will be the one fighting the enemy so you don’t have to. Luke 10:19 “Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you.”
Blessings,
Pastor Jason
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Why Crime Rates Rise
1-20-22
C. Hayden
If you have been watching the news this past year you have probably been inundated with reports of
overwhelming crime increases in our larger cities in this nation. It must be very frustrating for residents of these
large metropolises as they struggle to deal with increased robberies and violent crimes that have become a plague
in our country. We are fortunate to live in a smaller city that seems to not trend in the same direction as bigger
communities. But make no mistake, we do not go unscathed as this criminal pandemic will eventually touch us all
in some way whether financially, physically, psychologically, or spiritually. Why are we experiencing this rise in
criminal activity?
The answer can be made into a complicated soup of mashed together
excuses. Here is a list of causes, some more valid than others: The existence of
poverty, lack of fathers in the home, deteriorating family values. not enough
policing, anti-police idiocy, corrupt political leaders, ignorant political
leaders, lenient and ineffective judicial system, lenient criminal processing, gangs
allowed to thrive, drugs and drug laws. You name the crime, we have multiple
excuses for it. Not that these reasons for crime are untrue, but the Bible boils the
problem to simpler reasons.
In 1962, prayer was outlawed as an allowed activity in our public schools.
In 1973, the killing of unborn babies was legalized in all states. In 1980, the Ten
Commandments were removed from those same schools where open prayer had been removed. What has
happened? We have slowly but surely turned our face and heart from seeking God. Psalm 14:1-3 says, “ The fool
has said in his heart, “ There is no God.” They are corrupt, They have done abominable works, There is none who
does good. 2 The L ORD looks down from heaven upon the children of men, To see if there are any who understand,
who seek God. 3 They have all turned aside, They have together become corrupt; There is none who does good, No,
not one. ” In James chapter 4, we are told that fighting and wars amongst ourselves occur because of our lustful
desire to have, and the reason we don’t have is because we refuse to ask God. The 2 nd book of Chronicles says it
like this, “ 14 if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn
from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”
So why are crime rates rising? We have slowly but surely kicked God out of the public square and out of
our hearts. He is no longer invited in our schools to shape the lives of our children, so what did we expect would
happen? So how do we change this pandemic, take the advice of God from 2 Chronicles 7:14, turn to God, seek His
face, and He will heal our land.
Be blessed even more!!
Pastor Chris
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Attention Men!
1-15-2022
J. Fields
Valentine’s Day is coming up very quickly. That’s right, Valentine’s Day 2022 is on Monday, February 14th. You may be thinking that you have plenty of time to make plans but I’m warning you, don’t forget!
Valentine’s Day is known as the day we get to celebrate and show how much we love that special someone in our life. For the ladies, they love this day and even if they try and tell you something different, they are expecting their special man to come through with that one special gift. For all the guys out there, you will most likely either procrastinate and wait until the last moment to pick up the usual flowers and a card or you may forget Valentine’s Day until you are passing by the store on the way home and you realize you once again forgot to plan.
Gentlemen, you can thank me later for the friendly reminder “I’m trying to save us all” but honestly there’s a bigger point that I want us to see. As humans, we have different holidays that we celebrate throughout the year and the “day of love” would be one of them. Can you imagine for just a moment if Jesus Christ would only show us His love only when there was a special day here and there? See, God loves us with an unconditional, all-in kind of love. God loves each one of us so much that John 3:16 states that He gave us His only son to save us from eternal punishment.
Aren’t you glad that God never forgets how much He loves us? Every day God shines His beautiful love over each one of us. God’s love is unconditional, never-ending, never forgetting, and unending. We could all learn an important lesson about true love by understanding who it is we are loved by.
This Valentine’s Day I encourage you to show that special person in your life how much they mean to you, don’t wait until the last minute to remember to tell them I Love You because the last thing you want to happen is to forget and miss your opportunity.
1 John 4:9-10
“This is how God showed His love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”
Blessings,
Pastor Jason
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