Making Resolutions Work

Most people make some type of resolution at this time of the year. Some are small and some are a huge but many of them never see it's fulfillment. The Bible gives some great advice to help people to make good on their resolutions. It is not easy to change and it is not easy when many distractions come our way as we try to fulfill those resolutions. Jeremiah 31:17 “There is hope for your future”. Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight” Philippians 3:13b-14 “But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”

Through these verses the Bible gives us some advice in dealing with the future and the changes we would like to see come into reality. A resolution is basically saying that I would like to see this change in my life. First, believe that change is possible. With God all things are possible and He has promised to be with us and to strengthen us therefore there is hope to bring about change. Without hope it is not likely one will continue to discipline themselves to make the changes necessary. We must see that the end result will be worth all the sacrifice needed within the process. That is why the apostle Paul said in Romans 8:18 “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” Basically saying is heaven is worth working for regardless of any sacrifice we may have to go through.

Second, work on your relationship with the Lord throughout the process. One of our tendencies as humans is that we tend to think too much of ourselves at times which often then means that we are not trusting God the way we should be trusting Him. The way forward is one of humility and dependence upon the Lord as our help and strength. The big aspect of this truth is that man's way does not always work but God's way will always work. Therefore the key in life is learning how to do life God's way rather then our way. We are encouraged over and over to have faith in God, put our trust in the Lord or to wait upon the Lord for His time is right and good. I encourage you to make your resolution and then turn to the Lord for wisdom and guidance in how to make that resolution a reality.

Third, there will be distractions. The verse in Philippians 3:13-14 encourages us to forget what is behind and keep our eyes on what is ahead. Distractions will come in many different ways and forms and our enemy will use them to get us sidetracked from the things we should be doing. A great resolution that many make is to become a healthier Christian or to serve your church more or something along that line. Satan our enemy does not want you to grow as a follower of Jesus Christ therefore he will try to get your priorities mixed up or mess with your schedule so you do not have enough time or any number of things. Here is a couple of suggestions: realize any change takes time and do not become discouraged too quickly. Continue to do what is right and you will begin to see right results. Realize that in every effort to change there is the possibility of setbacks. All is not lost because of a minor stumble. Ask God to forgive and refresh your faith and desire to do life His way. Realize the necessary to keep your eyes looking forward. This at times is the hardest thing to do what the present reality seems so overwhelming but we must remember we go the direction that our eyes are focused. Therefore do not allow anything to keep you from keeping your eyes on Jesus who is the author and completer of your faith.

Much more could be said on this topic. I encourage you examine yourself and be willing to make that resolution that will improve your life. This can result in being one of your best years of your life as you learn to follow through on the commitments that you make with the Lord.

May the peace and love of Jesus Christ overshadow your life and strengthen you throughout 2012.

In His Service
Pastor John

New Year New Hope

Jeremiah 31:17 "There is hope for your future." I realize that this verse was written to the children of Israel during the time of captivity in which there was much hopelessness. The words spoken then though are as true today and here is why.
One, God has not changed. He has a plan for your life like He had a plan for Israel. The sins of Israel prevented that plan to be lived to its fullest and often that can be said of us as well. God continued to reach out to them in love and when they begin to respond to Him God begin to restore Israel as a nation. This is not happen over night but it did happen. Two, Jesus is our Lord and Savior. The scriptures teach that greater is He that is in us then he that is in the world. The promises of God are yes and amen in Christ Jesus our Lord. Jesus did not come to abolish the law and prophets but to complete them. We have promises of victory, freedom and fruitfulness that the world cannot stop when we live God's way. Repentance is a huge part for us to learn how to live life His way. Three, our past has already been written but our future is in the hands of God. This is one of the reasons the apostle Paul said in Philippians 3:13-14 "Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." God want us to be forward lookers which can be done when we place all our sins and failures at the cross of Christ. Forgive me Lord for not doing all You wanted me to do in 2011 and help me by Your grace, mercy and power to do the things that You want me to do 2012. I encourage you to take some time in the next couple of days to reflect upon last year and then put it in its proper perspective and then begin to dream what God wants you to do in 2012. He has great plans for you so do not dream too small. May big prayer is that I would live is such a manner that His favor and Presence would rest upon my life.
May the peace and love of God go with you.

Pastor John

Doing Good

I have been reading through II Chronicles during my devotional time and this morning II Chronicles 31:20 spoke to me. "This what hezekiah did throughout Judah, doing what was good and right and faithful before the Lord His God." One of the main thoughts as I have been reading through this book is the importance of finishing well. So many of the kings of Judah started out well but did not finish well. I have been praying lately 'Lord help me to finish well'. Then as I read this verse this morning it was like the answer to how to finish well which is do good, do what is right and be faithful all along during this before the Lord. Though Hezekiah had one incident of pride late in life he repented and finished well. One of the few kings that actually finish being faithful to the Lord. During this Christmas season we can be so focus on the story of Christmas that we are called upon to do good. This means when an opportunity arises to help someone that is exactly what we should do. We can get so focused on our own Christmas lists and plans that we neglect helping the poor. The Lord blesses generosity. The next on Hezekiah's list to do what is right. If we want the favor of God upon our life then we must do life His way which is doing what is right. Let's keep this as simple as we can, when we obey God our life will always go well. The third thing on Hezekiah's list is to be faithful before the Lord. This concept is being faithful to what God wants us to do and it is also referring to be faithful to our word and our calling in life. The first words I want to hear when I get to heaven is well done good and faithful servant. If we follow the pattern of King Hezekiah we will do well.
May His grace empower us to do good, do what is right and be faithful before the Lord all the days of our life.

Pastor John

Love: the focus of Christmas

Christmas is a great time of the year to refocus on some things. There are many who are trying to take the Christian symbols out of Christmas or renaming this time as just the holidays. Whatever one may try or think Jesus is the central theme of Christmas and that will not change. If there were no Jesus there would not be a Christmas. John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son..." Jesus Christ. It was love, the Father's love that made Christmas possible. It was His love that Jesus came into the world. It was His love that sent the angels to declare on the day of His birth, "we bring you Good News". It was love of nurturing parents that Jesus matured and it was love for His Father that Jesus fulfilled the will of God by dying on the cross. It was love that raised Jesus from the grave. It was love that made this all possible. Therefore when you gather for all your Christmas activities this year may you be reminded that it was and is all about love that made this season possible. Let us then love in a similar manner by focusing on others and not on whay you may receive. Let us take some time and meditate on that love so as to grasp a bit more just how much the Father loves us.
May the love of the Father, the mercy of the Son and peace of the Holy Spirit be with you this Christmas season.

Pastor John

Times of refreshing

I received an email and a phone call this morning that reminded me that the holidays is not a pleasant time for everyone. There are some people facing a variety of medical issues that bring into question or not if this will be their last Christmas. There are people who lose their loved ones. In fact I lost my dad about this time in December nearly 25 years ago and Sharon lost her dad between Christmas and New Years Day. These situations cause stress and much uncertainity. Then they are some among that wonder if they will ever find another job. I do not want to be negative but paint a picture of reality that there are many among us that need a time of refreshing. Acts 3:19 "Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord". I am not ssying that a person's present situation is due to personal sin but I am saying we need to turn to God who love us and promised to be with us. One of truths of scripture is that when someone needs a time of refreshing that not only will God help you but He will often send another person as His agent of refreshing. Let us be open to the Lord during this time to see how God may used us to bring about refreshing to someone in need. Proverbs 11:25 "A generous man will prosper, he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed." All us at one time or another are in need of refreshing. Let us be open to the Lord to bring refreshing to others then when we are in need can have the confidence that we will be refreshed.

May the Gof of all love and peace guard your hearts and mind in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Pastor John

The blessings of giving

Now that Thanksgiving Day is behind and the shopping has started in a fenzy and with many of the outdoor Christmas decorations up it is clear that Christmas Day is now close. There are now a variety of Christmas parties, family gatherings and host of things to do in the next couple of weeks. With all that going on we can become to lose focus on the true meaning of Christmas. There are two verses that I want to briefly share that serve to remind us the true meaning of Christmas. John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that He gave is one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." The expression of God's love is one of giving. This season we must remember the greatest gift ever given which is Jesus coming into the world. Without this gift there is no Christmas. Without this gift there would be no civil society because through Christ there is hope, peace and love. Even among people who have little to do with the church will emphasize these themes at this time of the year. The other verse is Acts 20:35 "remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: 'It is more blessed to give thean to receive.'" The blessing of giving comes from a heart of love. This is clearly the message of God in John 3:16 and if we are ever going to follow God then the development of a giving heart based upon love is a good place to start. The issues of life will always come back to the issues of the heart. Let us pray and seek for a greater revelation and understanding of His love so that our heart's motivation for all that we do will be based upon His love.
May the love of our Creator God overshadow our lives.

Pastor John

Thanksgiving: What I am thankful for.

We celebrate Thanksgiving Day in three days. I have talked about being thankful and now I am going to express my list of what I am thankful for this year. I encourage you to set a little time aside and begin to list all the things that you are thankful for this year. I am thankful that God loved me and continues to love me. I am thankful that Jesus died on the cross for my sins and that God accepted me and now I am a child of God. I am thankful that God is bigger, much bigger then my biggest problem and when I trust Him He has always been faithful. I am thankful that God has filled with the Holy Spirit and His power is made great in my weaknesses. I am thankful that I am a servant of the Most High God with His kingdom. I am thankful that I have experience victory and freedom as I walk with Christ. I am thankful for my church family. I am thankful for the privilege of serving King Jesus as one of His undershepherds of His church. I am thankful for His provisions within my life. I am thankful for a beautiful, godly wife who has been loving and patient with me. I am thankful for my four children and three grandchildren. I am thankful for my son-in-law who is a godly husband to my daughter. I am thankful for the health I have at this moment and the ability to enjoy golf and running and other types of recreation. I am thankful for the house that God has blessed my family with and the vehicles that we have and a lot of nice others toys of life. I am thankful that the things of life do not have a hold on my life and that Jesus is my source. I am thankful that in the midst of frustration that God continues to communicate His love and care to me. I am thankful for this day and the opportunities that is before me. I am thankful for the wisdom and guidance that He has promised to give to me. I am thankful for the faithfulness of the Lord to all His great and precious promises. I am thankful that most of my family will be able to be with us for Thanksgiving Day.
There is more I could have said but I trust I have inspired you to be more thankful for all things of life and not just the big things.
May the Lord bless all the family gatherings this Thursday on Thanksgiving Day.

Pastor John

Benefits of being Thankful

Last week I talked about the power of Thanksgiving. The value of being a thankful person cannot be over stated. I want to briefing state some benefits of being thankful. First, being thankful helps us to keep the right perspective on the things of life. If we are not careful the things of life can become more important then they ought to be and with a thankful heart it helps us to appreciate what we have and not take things for granted. Second, being thankful helps us to more pleasant to being around. No one like a grumpy person with poor manners. There is still great value in saying please and thank you. Third, being thankful helps keep us level headed when life takes one of those unexpected turns. Unpleasant things can happen to anyone at anytime. This is an aspect of life we do not allows understand and one that is difficult to deal with but when you are thankful it keeps us focusing on the right things. Fourth, being thankful is an indication that we are growing as a follower of Jesus Christ. I Thessalonians 5:16-18 "Be joyful always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." The encouragement here by the apostle Paul is for all believers facing all kinds of different circumstances. Either we are going to trust God or we are going to trust in our own ability to handle the tough times. I will trust God and be thankful regardless of whether or not I understand because I know that it is He who directs my steps and who can meet each and every one of my needs. Being thankful is a choose and is not based upon our present situation. Therefore I choose today to be thankful.
May of light of Jesus be with you.

Pastor John

The Power of Thanksgiving

Even though Thanksgiving Day is still a little over 2 weeks away it is not too early to begin to emphasis the importance of a thankful heart. Many times within the Psalms we are encouraged to be thankful. Psalm 100:4-5"Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise, give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever, His faithfulness continues through all generations." The basis of thanksgiving is not so much on what our present circumstance is but based upon God's goodness and love. When our thanksgiving is connected to our present situation then it can be sparodic at best because all of us has good days and bad days. There are times we do not have all we want or due to no fault of your own you are experiencing a time of financial crisis. When those things happen it does not change God and His character. His goodness and love is still present and will continue throughout my lifetime and my children's lifetime. I choose to be thankful because of who God is and not based upon my present situation. I am thankful for this morning that I was able to go on a good run. I am thankful for a godly wife. I am thankful for His provision, though this last year has seen some tough and tight times. I am thankful that I can be a servant of the Most High King, Jesus Christ. I am thankful for His everlasting love though I do not deserve anything. I am thankful for God's faithfulness and His Word which bring consistency to my life. As I write this my mind is thinking of many other things that I can be thankful for and it is a choose. The power of thanksgiving comes in giving us a positive outlook on life. It opens the eyes to see the possibilities of God's activity in my life and it helps me to combat the temptation of the enemy who wants God's children to be negative and doubting of God ability to handle my life's difficulties. I encourage you to spend some time everyday and speak out to the Lord thanksgiving and praise. What would happen on Sunday morning if everyone who came was prepared to give the Lord thanks and praise? I personally think He would show up in a special way for God inhabits the praises of His people.
May His blessings rest upon us as we do life His way.

Pastor John

Character of stability

I thank God for all the good things that He has done in my life. I thank Him for my salvation, the provisions that He has given to me and for the stability that He has granted to me in my life. Yesterday I spoke about the "Vision for Bethel" which is 'Being a stable, healthy Pentecostal church' within this community needs to see. I encourage you that if you missed this message that you pick up a copy next Sunday. I am going to address the character of stability today which is peace, contentment, hope, sense of belonging and a place where people will want to come and be a part of it. For many people peace seems to be very elusive. Far too often people think peace is the absence of difficulty and conflict when peace is our reliance of God in how we handle the difficulty and conflict. In saying that I can have stability even when life is not all that it should be because our God is able to help us in how we handle and approach these times. Contentment comes from how we are approaching the things of life. When we allow the attitude that things can bring us happiness we can become disillusioned because God is to be our source and the scripture says "But Godliness with contentment is great gain" I Timothy 6:6. God has been and always will be our source of stability. One more thing on the character of stability. Wherever there is stability whether it is a home or church people want to be a part of that because when someone is living in chaos (instability) they find comfort just being in a place that has the atmosphere of stability. If you have greater instability then you should I encourage you to talk to someone and begin to work at making the necessary changes to create greater stability in your life.
May the God of all love and peace be with you.
Pastor John

How to love one another

Today I had an experience that I am sure many others have had in their walk with the Lord. I was reading a very familiar passage of scripture (I John 5:2) and the Lord revealed something to me or I could say He spoke to me in a way that brought greater light on as aspect of being His disciple that was very refreshing. I John 5:2 "This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out His commands." Whenever most talk about how to love one another there are discussions on being kind, forgiving, compassion, acts of mercy, our conversations being healthy and etc. But this verse actually is saying that one of the best indicators of our love for one another is within our relationship with God, by loving Him and by obeying Him. So let's keep this in its proper context by asking a couple of questions. How have you been loving God lately? Have you been obeying His commands? If I am struggling in these areas of my life then the apostle John is saying that you are not loving one another to your full potential. The way the apostle John has put this means that whether it is love for one another or for God it is always about God. Even in our love for others we must put God first and if He is not first then we can quickly distort what it actually means to love one another. If I truly love God and I am obeying Him then I will have the proper prespective to truly love others. I want to encourage you to love one another and you will know how well you are actually doing that in your love relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.
May the love of God overshadow all aspects of your life.
Pastor John

Being Full of the Spirit

I thank God that as one of His children He did not leave me alone and expect me to live by His standards. I would fail consistently for I do not have what it takes to follow Jesus. I believe that Jesus is the Son of God and I believe the Bible is the Word of God. I have always believed that from my childhood but I have not always lived as if I believed that. There was an experience in my midteens that I struggled with a particular sin and became convinced there was no power in the church to help me. I still believed that Jesus is God and the Bible was His Word but I became involved in many sins of the world. When I was 21 I accepted the Lord and everything changed because not only did I believe but became convinced that there was power to help me to live right. I have failed many times but I continually return to the promise that when I am weak He is strong. Late in the life of the apostle Paul he was in a season of weakness and God assured him with these words, "My grace is sufficient in you, for My power is made perfect in weakness." II Corinthians 12:9
This is one of my consistent prayers that God will continue to be with me in my weaknesses so that I will have strength and wisdom to do what is right in His sight. Saying means that I have a need to be full of the Spirit everyday. Jesus promised never to leave us or forsake us and He promised to answer our prayers. I just happen to believe that when I pray for His power, His Spirit to come because I am weak and dependent upon Him that this is the kind of prayer that God is eager to answer. May we learn to depend upon the Lord and continually ask to be full of the Spirit.
May the love and peace of the Lord overshadow your comings and goings.
Pastor John

Importance of Character

Being a Christian by definition means being a follower of Jesus Christ. There are a variety of opinions of exactly what this means but let's keep it simple. Philippians 2:5 "Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus." Our attitude basically defines our character. Is your character positive or negative? That is all dependent upon your attitude. Within the context of being a Christian the apostle Paul said the our attitude ought to be similar to that of our Savior, Jesus Christ. In other words our character should be similar to that of Jesus. I needed a Savior because I was a sinner with attitudes far from that of Jesus. The task of every follower, disciple of Jesus is to see the importance of transforming our character from what it was to what it ought to be. For all of us this is a life long pursuit because it is a slow transition due to the fact that change is not easy and at times we do not welcome it. In order for this transformation to work I must understand how the process works and then being willing to work the process. The emphasis of this blog is to point to the importance of the character of Christ being worked in us. I cannot become more like Him if I remain as I am. If I am going to be the witness that God wants me to be then I must begin to reflect Him more and more and that is done through our character. Saturday (October 15) at Bethel I am teaching a class on Spiritual Formation that will cover the process of putting on the character of Christ. May we do our part so that we can become more like Jesus.

May the peace and love of our Heavenly Father guide our lives.

Pastor John

I Believe

Faith has always been the access to the heart of God. In Hebrews 11 the author commends many people for their faith beginning with Abel and then tracing it throughout the Old Testament. The Law was given in a time of Israel to give them direction and understanding of God but unless there was faith the Law could not save. It was all about Faith and it still is all about Faith in a God who hears and acts for a people who will put their trust in God. Jesus said in Mark 11:22 "Have faith in God" and then in verse 24 said "Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours." This type of faith is not hoping for the best but it is a confidence in God that He will be the God who keeps His word and promises, the God who has shown Himself faithful throughout all generations. This confidence does not dictate to God what to do and when to do it but stands upon His word and believes for the impossible to become possible in the power of the Spirit. Jesus also said to Martha right before He raised Lazarus from the dead in John 11:40 "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God." We may receive many great blessings when God answers our prayers when we believe in God but all honor and glory is His. Seeing the activity of God in our midst ought to be reflected in bragging on Daddy when He does what only He can do. Let us speak of His wonderful works when He does answer our prayers.
Have faith in God. Trust and obey for there is no better way.
May God increase your faith as you continue to believe in God for your need.

Pastor John

Priority Refreshing

Everyone has a list of priorities in life. Some of them are stated and others just seem to happen due to a variety of situations. One must understand that priorities of life can change and in fact can change without us even knowing about it. Therefore from time to time we ought to examine ourselves to identify what our present priorities actually are and then compare that with what we have said what our priorities ought to be. To assume that this will always be the same is a huge mistake because we can move forward in life thinking we are OK when in reality we are not focusing on the right things. I want to use use Bethel A/G as an example. As pastor there are two main things that I want to be the highest priorities in all that we do. Number one priority is loving God. Number two priority is loving people. This has been and will be our first two priorities of church life. The first step is to sit back an examine ourselves to see if what we are doing is actually in alignment with our main priorities. There are seasons that I think we are doing well and then there are seasons I am sensing we are slipping a bit from those two priorities. To get the whole church family to align themselves up with those priorities is and will continue to be a challenge. One I have analyzed where we are then we must begin to make intentional decisions to make sure we are doing the right things that will help to stay on track with our stated priorities. One thing that I have learned is that we need to state what our priorities actually are in order to keep them before us so we will actually live it out in life. There are many people who have stated that God is number one in their life but you would never know it by looking at their lives. It takes energy and endurance to keep what we say is our priority our actual priority. What is true in the life of the church is also true in our personal lives.
May the God of all love and peace guard your hearts in Christ Jesus our Savior.
Pastor John

Is Jesus revelant?

Yesterday I started a sermon series "Not a Fan". This series is all about becoming a completely committed follower of Jesus Christ. Are you a fan of Jesus or a follower of Jesus? A fan (enthusiastic admirer) who has all the right words of being a Christian but the lifestyle is lacking. A follower of Jesus is one who has made a commitment to love and obey Jesus in all aspects of their lives. Therefore the question: Is Jesus relevant? That is do the words of Jesus spoken almost 2,000 years ago speak to us today within the context of the culture that we live. I am 100% convinced that Jesus is relevant to any and all cultures to any age and time. I realize that I have just made a faith statement of which some people will disagree. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus address a great variety of topics in speaking about the principles of the Kingdom of God. These range from attitudes of the heart, judgment, sex, finances, marriage, forgiveness, politics, worry and trust, faith and if we would take His teaching seriously here would alter how we interact with one another. One of ways to insure that proper interpretation of a particular scripture is to ask this question; can I teach this principle in any culture of the world? If I cannot then I need to pursue a bit deeper the spiritual principle from that verse. Now let's be clear about another aspect of this, application of the principle will most likely look different but the principle ought to be the same. Do not expect universal application of a spiritual principle. Jesus spoke in the context of principles which was a stumbling block for the teachers of the law of His day. They were more concerned about the washing of a cup then they were of the spiritual principle of taking care of your parents. Jesus is more then enough to speak to every situation within the cultures of today. In fact if we are willing to believe, Jesus' words when properly understood (principle) and obied (application) is relevant to us today and will help us more then anything else we will ever read. I choose everyday to not be a fan but to be a completely committed follower of Jesus Christ.

May the grace and love of Jesus overshadow your lives.

Pastor John

Not a Fan

Football season is now upon us. I enjoy this time of year in sports but wish the weather was warmer but I can not have it both ways. As many may know I am a huge Green Bay Packer fan. I am looking forward to Thursday night and watch the best team in NFL history. See that is the talk of a fan. This Sunday I begin a six week sermon series titled "Not a Fan". The message begins by bringing clarity of where your relationship with Jesus actually is by asking the question, Are you a fan or follower of Jesus? Within these messages we will be exploring the words of Jesus so as to define what He said and meant in what being a genuine follower of Jesus means. If we allow our culture to define what it means to be a Christian we will come to a different definition then what the Bible says on this all important topic. Did Jesus mean what He said? Does Jesus really want us to follow Him in a racial manner that there is nothing more important in life then our relationship with Him? If I am not able to answer these questions then it is likely that I have already allowed my culture to define my relationship with Jesus. Let's put this another way. Image for a moment Jesus standing before and He asks you these questions: "Define your relationship with Me? How important is it to you that you do what I say you should do? Would you be willing to give up one thing up that I see is hindering our relationship?" Do you welcome questions like this or would you rather these questions not be asked? Please do not flee because one day when we see Jesus face to face the question of our relationship will be asked. I trust you are willing to ask that question now so that you will be ready to answer that question when He does ask us later about our relationship with Jesus. Our preparation on earth is to get us ready to meet our loving, gracious Heavenly Father. To think that I am OK when in reality I am not OK is like going to the doctor for your annual physical and he asks you only one question, are you OK? If you reply OK, then he says then go home. What kind of annual physical is that. You have to test blood work among other things and I know my doctor ask me many questions. Over the next six weeks let's do that on a spiritual level. I will be asking lots of questions. Do not be afraid of them but rather embrace them so that you will be able to define your relationship with Jesus in a positive manner.
May the Lord bless you and keep you in His love.
Pastor John

Living in God's presence

During my devotions this morning I came across a verse; Psalm 140:13 "Surely the righteous shall give thanks to Your name; the upright shall dwell in Your presence." ESV translation
This verse gives us what the heartbeat of every Christian ought to be. I want to dwell in His presence. I trust that you want to dwell in His presence. Jesus said this in several different way and in John 15 the emphasis is abiding in Him and Jesus in us. This ought to be what a life of a believer is all about. God loves you and wants you to dwell in His presence. God is for you and not against you because He wants you to dwell in His presence. Jesus died on the cross to free us from our sins so we could dwell in His presence. Jesus defeated the works of the enemy, sin and death so that we would be able to dwell in His presence. Jesus is the author and perfecter of our faith because He wants us to dwell in His presence. Jesus provided grace and mercy in the times of our weaknesses because we are powerless to dwell in His ever abiding presence when He said that He would never leave us nor forsake us so that His presence is always our guiding light. In saying all that this verse also communicates that it is the upright who dwell in His presence. This is not a works thing but it is an obedience thing. For day one of creation of Adam and Eve God has required obedience to experience His tangible manifest presence. When Adam and Eve sinned God had no option but to expel them out of the Garden of Eden, that is a symbol of His presence. The upright in this verse is speaking of those whose life is marked by a lifestyle of obedience, not perfection but similar to that of Kind David, having a heart after God. We can live in His presence on a daily basis. This is the heartbeat of God for you and I trust it is also your heartbeat for God.
May God bless you throughout this week with His tangible presence in your life.

Pastor John

What is missing in today's church? Part IV

On the obversations of what is missing in today's church I am going to address the lack of hunger for God. Your obversation maybe a bit different. Though there are many books, CD's, DVD's and conference on related topics of one's relationship with Christ there seems to be something missing. It is clear that there are pockets of great passion for God but as a whole many Christians seem to be going through the moments. The reasons for this are likely due to compromise, complacency or distractions. There are likely other reasons for a lack of hunger but I think these are the big three. So what ought I do if I am a Christian but lack a genuine hunger for God and for a move of God in my life and church. First, repent for a lack of hunger and then commit to seek the Lord with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:13 "You will seek me and you will be found by me if you seek me with all your heart." Jesus said in Matthew 5:6 "Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled." Praise God that He responds when we seek Him with all our hearts. Second, become aware of the distractions, compromise and the places of complacency that has taken energy away from your passion of God. This may well result in your need to change some patterns or give up something for a seasons but we are encouraged to seek the Lord and put Him first in our lives and anything that keeps us from that is not a good thing. Third, be consistent with your daily prayer life and your church attendance. This will bring you into His presence which will feed your hunger for God. Bethel A/G is having special services with Evangelist David Nichols this weekend and I encourage you to feed your hunger for God by allowing God to speak to you this weekend. Services are on Bethel Facebook.
May the Lord keep you in His love and peace.
Pastor John

What's missing in today;s church? Part III

The couple of weeks I have address that true biblical love and being on the agenda of God is what is missing in today's church. This is not missing in every church but by and large with the American church we are moving by our own heartbeat rather then the heartbeat of God. Today in my observation what is missing is a lack of true spiritual discernment. One of the gifts of the Holy Spirit is the discerning of spirits. This is understood in understanding what is of God and what is of man or of the enemy. Time here does not permit me to be in depth but the church seems to lack the ability to know what is right or wrong and what is true spiritual anointing and charisma of the individual. When we lack the ability to know right from wrong we will begin to allow ungodly behavior that will hinder one's ability to mature as a disciple of Christ. Psalm 119:11 "I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sing against you." The concern in this area is that we begin to allow the culture to determine what is right or wrong rather then allowing the Word of God to determine what is right or wrong. I realize that not everyone who is even a serious student of the Bible will agree on everything here but when the church begins to allow clearly stated sins as being OK we are missing something. A clear example of this is allowing sexual immorality within the church. We must be careful not to be misled into legalism to define right or wrong but we must be careful to allow the grace of Christ to so impact our lives that we allow the Spirit to guide us into all truth and to live a life pleasing to God. The other area of my concern in the lack of discernment comes in confusing the true anointing of God and the charisma of a person. This is not always easy but here are three things that have helped me over the years to discern whether a person is walking in the anointing of God. First, Is the cross central to their message? If Jesus does not remain at the center then it becomes an easy transition for self to be the center. Second, Is there a commitment to honor the Word of God? Properly handing the Word of God ought to be a given but somehow the church overlooks how some handle the scriptures because they sound so good. That is a huge mistake, the Holy Spirit authored the Word of God and it is the same Holy Spirit that brings the anointing and He never contradicts Himself. Third, Is the character of a humble servant present within their character? This is not always easy because we know some evangelists or prophets from a distant but let us be aware that true anointing can only function in a person who is wholly dependent upon the Lord, humility. I encourage you to keep your observation skills active so that proper discernment can take place. This is just a quick overview of why it is my opinion that true biblical discernment is missing in today's church.
May the God of peace and strength be with you and help you to know right from wrong and you will begin to growth in your spiritual discernment abilities.

Pastor John

What's missing in today's church part II?

Last week I talked about true biblical love. This week what is missing in today's church is the truth that many churches have their own agenda rather then the agenda of God. To understand this thought allow me to ask a couple of questions. What does it mean to be a Christian church? If Jesus is Lord and if we affirm in a faith statement that Jesus is the Head of the church then why are we not following the Bible in how church life is done? One more question: Is it OK for the culture to frame how church is done or is it the church to help frame the culture in what is right or wrong? How one answers these questions will determine whether or a church is truly living with the agenda of God in mind or living out their own agenda. I will briefly answer each question. To be a Christian church, that church must be following Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord. Most would agree with that but for Jesus to be Savior you must be He is the second person of the Godhead and that He died on the cross for sins and as He said Himself that He alone is the way back to the Father. To be Lord then one must commit to follow His teachings and commands. The second question follows the first one. If Jesus is Lord then we must follow how He wants us to live as being part of His family. To say that Jesus is Lord and then do church life by following man's ways or traditions that do not align with the Bible is being hypocritical or naive. Whatever maybe the case if you are not following the scriptures in how to do church life then it will be difficult to receive healthy spiritual results. The third question is likely the hardest for some people to understand. Many will so that the Bible was written hundreds of years ago and is not relevant for today but that is unfortunately a shallow understanding of Biblical principles. The Bible was written in such a manner that the principles for life stated in scriptures can be applied in any culture and in any time period. The key to receiving the blessing of God is to do life His way. The teachings of the Bible rightly applied will enhance every culture and will improve every person ability to live a fruitful life. Therefore what is often missing in churches today is good principles taught from the Word of God that are properly applied to man's everyday living. When we allow the culture to be a standard of what is permissible within the church we are going to be in trouble with God. God and His Word is to be the standard in how we do church life.

May the Lord bless you and keep you and grant to you peace.

Pastor John

What's missing in today's church?

There are some very good Christians that make up the church today. My comments are not designed to cast a negative light on the church but to bring an awareness of the church today to do some soul searching. Before I address anything that is missing allow me to ask two questions that will hopefully provoke some thinking and direction for this blog. Is the church today a place of refuge for those who are in great need? Is the church having a positive influence within their community which implies that there is hope and peace within the church that the community is clearly observing? Unfortunately the answer to both of these question by and large is no. Therefore what is missing in the church today? The things that I will be addressing today and in subsequent blogs is my personal opinion with no exception that everyone will agree with me. Today I am going to address that true biblical love is missing. The first church the Spirit address in the letters to the churches in Revelation 2 & 3 was Ephesus. The problem this church had was that they had forsaken their first love. John 13:35 "They (community) will know that they are my disciples if they love one another." The restoration of love, genuine love, for God and for one another would go a long way in restoring the church to its rightful place in our community. Unfortunately the church is more known for its splits, clicks and personal agendas then it for its love. The Spirit encouraged the church of Ephesus to repent and to begin to do what they first were doing. The restoration of love begins with repentance and then it is quickly followed by acts of love which must be motivated by the decision to love. If we wait for the right feelings before we do the right thing we then are likely to continue down the path we are now heading. If love is not expressed in tangible, practical ways then who will know that love is actually present. Let us heed the apostle John, "Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth." 1 John 3:18.
If you need to be reminded of what love is I encourage you to read and meditate on 1 Corinthians 13. May we be found to be lovers of God and love one another as Jesus has loved us.

Pastor John

The debt crisis

The last couple of weeks one of the big news topics is the debt crisis that USA is experiencing. There is much debated in how to solve this problem but the issue is becoming too political. The topic of this blog is the debt crisis but not the financial one America is experiencing but the debt crisis that each one of us experiences in a spiritual sense. Being part of the human race automatically means I have a debt crisis and though there are many proposed solutions, ie. many different religions there is only one solution, Jesus Christ. Jesus said that narrow is the road that leads to heaven. I am the way, the truth, and the life and noone comes unto the Father except through me. I am the bread of life. I am the good shepherd. Saying Jesus is the only solution is not the politically correct to say but it is the biblically correct thing to say. Jesus is not only our solution to get saved but I have a continue debt problem that Jesus is the only solution. I wish the moment I accepted Jesus as my Savior that my struggle against sin was over but I thank God there is not only the intial forgiveness but a continual forgiveness as I live a life humble dependence upon Christ and what He has done for me at the cross of Calvary. Now that Jesus paid my debt that I owed due to my sin there is now for me a debt of love that I need to pay on a continual basis for all that Jesus has done for me. Let us put our hope and trust in Christ who helps us to pay the debt of love.

Pastor John

Having a standard

Many things in life have a standard by which we can judge just how things are going. The standard will let us know if what we are doing is working or not. The standards of life are on our money, building, how we rate movies, and as a follower of Christ there are standards on morals and ethics that govern how we are to live. There is not complete agreement on where some of these standard ought to align but if there are no standards then we will reenter the time of the Judges where the scriptures says that everyone did what was right in their own eyes. On Sunday I sensed the Lord speak this to may heart. "I have a gold standard." God as the creator of all of life has the right and obligation to set in place the standards on how this life is to work. Not only does God have that right but He sets in place a gold standard. A standard by which if we are willing to follow will be filled with many blessings. Life will always go better when I willingly do life His ways, or I could say doing life by His standards, the gold within what I sensed the Lord saying was that one could not improve upon the standard that He has given, it is sufficient and bring about His favor upon our lives when we follow His standard for being a follower of Jesus Christ.

May the Lord strengthen us in our inner life that we may please Him.

Pastor John

The Power of Life

Just a simple thought this morning. The power of life is seen all around in nature and there are spiritual lessons concerning the power of life. Spring time is a great time of the year with new life, things turning green and flowers popping out of the ground. This spring our area saw lots of rain which delayed much of the planting of crops but now the fields are bursting with life and growth. Spiritually speaking the power of life begins with our new birth as a being in Christ. The conditions needed for growth of this new life is simple. I must learn to do life God's way. That maybe a simple principle but I have found out through the years that it is not always an easy principle to live out. Within the natural world if you want to see the power of life you must control the weeds, fertilize the soil, receiving timely rain and be patient because fruit does not happen over night. When these conditions are present you witness the power of life. Spiritually, the conditions are similar: we must control the tendency of the fallen world that can crowd out our new life, we must feed on the Word of God which is like fertilizer to our soul, we have timely encounters with the Living God, Heavenly Rain that encourages our spirit life and we must persevere and remain faithful until the fruit begins to come. When the spiritual conditions are right you will witness the power of life in ways that will change your life. May we allow this life influence how we live in this world.
May the God of life and mercy be with you.

Pastor John

Celbration of Freedom

As an Americans we enjoy our freedom. In one week the 4th of July we celebrate our independence and our freedom as Americans. Far too often we can take things for granted and do not realize all the sacrifices people have made so that freedom can be experienced by the many. I encourage you to enjoy this holiday but also to thank our founding fathers of America who made this all possible. Their vision and work set the foundation to make USA the greatest nation in the world. As a believer in Jesus Christ I experienced freedom from a life of sin and now I am headed to heaven. The freedom that I have is due to my founding Heavenly Father who sent His Son to come to earth and then die on a cross to take away my sins and the sins of the world. Let us not take for granted what was accomplished 2,000 years ago but let us celebrate the our freedom in true worship and service to the one who did what I could not do. Galatians 5:1 "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." I owe everything that I have to Jesus. May we be a people who understand the price of freedom and then be thankful people. May God shed His grace upon America and may God enlighten the eyes of our hearts that I will know how to live out my freedom in a manner that is pleasing to the Lord.

May God's blessings be upon your celebration of freedom both as an American and as a Christian.

Pastor John Backes

Church - God's Way

There was an interesting thing that happen at the Heritage Days parade on Saturday for me. A new church is going to open and it is called Rethink Church. I did not think of it much initially but then I started to think about what I was to rethink and that caused me to come to a simple conclusion. What I have think about is whether or not I am trying to do church life God's Way or am I going to try to do church using man's thoughts and methods. I am OK to rethink church life as long as I am going to put my energy in doing church life with God's strength and power along with doing what God wants us to be doing. Jesus said that He would build His church, Matthew 16:18. It is all about cooperating with God and being His servant by obeying and walking in His ways. This is not just to be a public statement to look good but we must be committed to the Lord Jesus in ways that we are working alongside Him when He is building His church. That is my desire and goal and trust that You will join with me in building His church in this community by working under the authority of Jesus as the Head of His church.
May the love of the Father, the grace of Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit be with us.

Pastor John Backes

Our Heavenly Father

When the Lord taught the disciples on prayer He encouraged them to begin the prayer this way. "Our Father in heaven.." Matthew 6:9. This coming Sunday we celebrate Father's Day in which we honor our earthly fathers. Everyone has a father but unfortunately not everyone had a good earthly father and that makes days like this a little tough. Many though have had good fathers, not perfect fathers but fathers who loved and cared for their families. I encourage each person who has a father to honor them on Father's Day. Our Father in heaven is not only a good Father but He is a perfect Father. Many people struggle with that thought because they at times view how our Heavenly Father is through the eyes of our earthly father. God does not need me or anyone else to define Himself. He has revealed Himself through nature and through the words of the Bible. Everyone has seen God through His creation but the question is did everyone recognize God through nature. Open up your heart to see His beauty, majesty, creativity, provision, designs and etc. that speaks to the truth that there is a God and all this did not nor could have happen by mere chance. Receiving a revelation of who God is through the Bible comes when we open our Bible and actively seek to know Him through the stories, history and teachings of the Bible. Whether it is through nature or through the Bible our Heavenly Father can be known but I must be willing to listen and to change any thought that is not consistent to the revelation that God is giving to us. Our Heavenly Father is full of compassion and slow to anger, He is all loving and faithful to all His promise and He cannot change. I could say much more on who our Heavenly Father is through His character and essence but you will learn more when you begin to seek Him through your own search to know God and His ways.
I encourage you this Sunday to not only honor your earthly father but to spend some time to honor the King of Kings and Lord of Lords for He is the best Father ever and He is so willing to help us that it grieves His heart when we will not allow Him to help us. To my Father in Heaven I honor You today and on this Sunday may I honor You above all else for You deserve it. May our Father in Heaven bless you.

Pastor John

Filled with the Holy Spirit

Sunday is Pentecost Sunday. This is when the church world celebrates the first time that the followers of Jesus Christ were filled with the Holy Spirit. Jude 20 encourages us to pray in the Holy Spirit, Ephesians 5:17 encourages us to be filled with Holy Spirit, the apostle Paul in I Corinthians 14:1 encourages us to seek the gifts of the Holy Spirit and Jesus took the disciples that they needed the Holy Spirit to be His witnesses. What has changed from the 1st century to today? We still have great needs and the lack of personal ability to solve our own problems just like the those in the 1st century. May we take heed to the scriptures that encourages us to foster an intimacy with God through the power of the Holy Spirit and may we learn to accept by faith what God has said rather then trying to figure it out in our minds. God is the author and the finisher of our faith which means He sets the guidelines on how our faith in Him is work. He promised to send the Holy Spirit to all His disciples because we need the Holy Spirit to comfort, to teach, to empower, to help us discern, to give us peace, to give understanding and many other things. We need Him, therefore throughout this week ask Jesus to fill you afresh with the Holy Spirit.

Pastor John

Filled with the Holy

Public life, inner life

Yesterday we heard the news that Jim Tessel resigned as Head Football Coach of Ohio State. The problem in my estimation is that the public life did not match the inner life. I follow Big Ten football and for year Tessel put forth this public image of being clean, honest and integrity. The last few months unfornuately a different picture is beginning to emerge which led to his resignation. The lesson for us as a believer is that I must spend time to take care of the inner life. All of us desire to look good and we have a tendency to be on our best behavior in public settings. This is not all bad but we must be careful we are not living two separate lives, one in the public, one in the private. Solomon gave us some great advice in Proverbs 4:23. "Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life." That is guarding our inner life. Who we really are will come out sooner or later and that usually will happen in stressful situations and in a unguarded moment we just did what we said we would not do. The key for that not happening is to prepare our heart with the knowledge and ways of God. I am encourage to hide God's word in my heart that I might not sin against Him. The goal of a believer is to have our public life and inner life be one and the same as a follower of Jesus Christ. What we are is to be plain before all men. This is the goal and is not easily obtain but with discipline and the power of the Spirit working in us is obtainable. This is one of the reason the apostle Paul said that he makes it his goal to please God and this was both in public and in private manners of life. May God give your strength in the inner man to live a life in which you will never have to be ashamed. May His grace strengthen us in our weaknesses.

Pastor John

The glory of God

There are various viewpoints on the presence of God and sadly some have just accepted that God is omnipresent which basicly means that God is everywhere all at the sam time. I believe that with all my God but there is available to the followers of Jesus Christ a tangible manifest presence of God. This is where God shows up in a special manner where the activity of God increases among all who are in that presence. This is also called the glory of God. God showed up to people throughout the Bible and whenever He did it was apparent that God was in the midst which caused a variety of reactions. When God lead the children of Israel out of Egypt this presence was seen as a cloud by day and fire by night. This brought fear to the Egyptians and comfort and direction for the Israel. Sunday night at Bethel we begin to see the glory of God and His presence was heavy in the room. All who were present lingered in the presence and longed for more of God. I believe that God is beginning to do a deep work in the hearts and lives of all who are willing to draw near to Him. If we seek Him we will be found by Him, Jer. 29:12-13. To experience God is to experience the essence of life and I desire to have an ever increasing the glory of God in ways that will change me so that I might please Him. I am confident of this 'we will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living', Psalm 27:13. I encourage you to pray and seek Him. Expect God to show up everytime we meet together as His children. I look forward to what God is going to do among us this Sunday at Bethel A/G.
May God bless you and shine His face upon you.

Pastor John Backes

Experiencing God

There is a phrase in Acts 3:19 that is very interesting and encouraging. "times of refreshing may come from the Lord." This was stated to a crowd who had witnessed the healing of a crippled beggar. The apostle Peter was speaking and he was drawing their attention to Jesus Christ, He was the healer and had power to bring life physically and spiritually. Now let's look at the whole verse "Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord." In order for times of refreshing to come one must repent which is basically saying I confess my way is not working, I have sinned against God and now I am going to turn to God to do life His way. When a person is willing to do this it is within this context that times of refreshing will come from the Lord. Now we must look at this verse at face value which means: I can experience a refreshing in my life from the Lord over and over and over. This was never meant to be a one time experience but a continual refreshing of the Lord in your life. This Sunday (May 22) we are having Evangelist Mike Livengood and we are believing that there will be times of refreshing coming from the Lord. I encourage you to set aside this day and experience God in a fresh and powerful way. Let's us be willing to look at areas in our lives that has become dull and stale and then be willing to turn from how you have been doing life and be willing to turn to God and do life His way. Times of refreshing are coming from the Lord.

May God grant to you a fresh experience in the Lord.

Pastor John

Taking responsibility

On Sunday I spoke about being a person of influence. We can affect people for the good when we are aware of how to use our gifts and abilities for the good. The scriptures are constantly encouraging us to encourage others to do what is right and good. I believe that is vital and as we approach difficult times it will be even more important to encourage one another. Now after saying that I also want to turn the coin to the other side and make one simple point. I must take responsibility for my own spiritual growth and not be dependent on others. Jude 20-21 "But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit. Keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life." Now I am not saying encouragement from others is not important but I am saying that unless I take my own faith seriously and personally do certain things there is no amount of encouragement that will help you. These two things ought to be working together and not separately. I need to build myself up everyday. If I need someone to tell me what to do before I do the right thing when I get up in the morning it is no wonder that I will struggle on that day. The scripture says in Revelation 12:11 that I will overcome the enemy (devil) when I make a confession of faith in Jesus Christ and confess that the blood of Christ cleanses me from all my sins. This is something I must do to have victory. I must keep myself in God's love. There is only one person who can do that for yourself and it is you. This means I am going to focus on God as the center of my life and I am not going to allow the world to dictate my actions. In order to take responsibility for our own actions that lead to spiritual maturity I must affirm my faith in Jesus Christ on a consistent basis. I must read the Bible everyday and allow His words to make a difference in my life. I must pray and seek God for my life, for the things I need to give up and for the things I ought to do in order to please Him. I encourage you to take responsibility for your own spiritual development and along the way also allow others to encourage you in the faith.
May the God of all love and peace be with you.

Pastor John

Thoughts on Bin Laden

On this blog I am going to give a couple of random thoughts. As most people I am proud of our military in securing justice on Bin Laden. Some of the reaction that I witnessed was a bit troubling to me and here is why: First, Proverbs 24:17-18 "Do not gloat when your enemy falls, when he stumbles do not let your heart rejoice, or the Lord will see and disapprove and turn his wrath away from him." It is one thing to be satisfied that justice is served and that wickedness is put down but the celebration that followed is not appropriate in my opinion. According to this proverb the Lord's wrath could be turned and I do not want to see that. Second, this was a job well done and those who accomplished this task from the top to the bottom are to be commended. Let us not act as if the war is over. This is just one victory of many more that we will need to win in order to defeat terrorism. If anyone thinks that evil will not rear its ugly head again is being a bit naive. May God grant our leaders and military wisdom to continue to be effective against the wickedness that wants our defeat.
Now let us apply this to our spiritual lives. We are at war against an enemy that wants to defeat us, to kill us, to do us damage. This enemy is not going away and there are going to be many battles to win but thanks be to God who gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. When you win a battle, rejoice, but also realize that the war is not over. The enemy will sit back for a season waiting for another time when he thinks he can cause you to fall. Let us be aware of the tactics of the enemy so that when he comes against us we will be ready with our confession of faith and plead the blood of the lamb (Jesus Christ) and we will win, read Rev. 12:11.
We face a powerful enemy but do not fear because we serve a much more powerful God who promised us victory through Christ, trust in the Lord and we will win.

May the Lord strengthen your heart today by the power of His Spirit.

Pastor John

The Day after Easter

It was great to celebrate the Resurrection of Christ yesterday. I know that Christ is risen because He lives in me. This blog will be quite short because I want to remind everyone that what we celebrated yesterday is still true today. Jesus is alive today and will be tomorrow. Let us live throughout all our days that Jesus is alive. This Sunday when we gather together we will be celebrating an worshiping our Lord and Savior once again for all that He has done for us. We need to be reminded of some things regularly because we tend to put what is important on a back burner. I am thankful for all that Jesus has done for me. I rejoice that I know the living Christ will continue to do great things for me in the future because He is alive.

May God grant the presence of the Living Christ to be with you.

Pastor John

Good Friday part II

On the church calendar this is called Holy Week. There is so much that Jesus said and did the last week of His life on earth that it would be good to slow down and meditate on all that Jesus is and did for us. On Friday Bethel A/G will be open for prayer, meditation and communion from 1:00 - 3:00 p.m. Here are some things one could meditate one during that time.
1. The Last Supper experience which would include the washing of the apostles' feet. The significance of the New Covenant in Jesus' blood.
2. The last words of Jesus as recorded in John 13 - 17. All through scripture the last words of the great patriarchs were very important so how much more the words of Jesus.
3. The suffering of Christ; from the mistreatment of an unjust trial to cross. Remember He did all that on our behalf as was prophesied in Isaiah 53.
4. On a personal basis I need to think about how serious I am responding to all that Jesus did (Isaiah 29:13). Am I playing the religious game or am I passionate about developing a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
5. This story ends with the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Meditate on how the resurrection power of Christ is influencing my life on a personal basis.

Lord help us to know and understand You more and more so that I will be able to live a life that honors Your Great and Holy Name.

Pastor John Backes

Good Friday

Praise God for everything that He has done for us. This week the church world celebrates the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross that takes away our sin and replaces that with righteousness. Now because of what Jesus has done for me I can stand clean and pure before my Creator. There is so much more that could be said on this topic but all the words in the world will not make a difference unless I believe them and spend a little time focusing on what Jesus did for me on a personal basis on that day about 2,000 years ago. This is not just a doctrine, a teaching, to know but it is the truth to absorb into our hearts. If God does not have my heart then He really does not have us at all. The prophet Isaiah spoke about this when he said "The Lord says: "These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men." Let us make sure that God has both our right words in worship and our heart. With this in mind on Good Friday, Bethel A/G will be open to anyone from 1:00 - 3:00 p.m. to focus on this wonderful story of restoring man to their creator through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I will be there to serve communion to whoever wants to partake as they renew their confession of faith in Jesus Christ. You can come anytime and stay as long as you want. There will not be formal worship but clearly there will be lots of worship and thanksgiving taking place. This is a time of reflection and a time of renewal and prayer. I encourage you to respond to His love for you by being in His presence for a time this Friday. God bless you and trust the power of His resurrection will be with you.

Pastor John Backes

Missions and Discipleship

This last weekend Bethel A/G had a Mission Banquet and Missions emphasis on Sunday. What is Missions? Missions is the reaching out to others who do not know Jesus Christ as their Savior. As a believer in Jesus Christ I am called to follow Jesus Christ and His teachings. One of the last things Jesus spoke to the disciples about is to go into the whole world and make disciles, Matthew 28:19. This commandment was not given just to the 1st century believers but to each and every believer. I titled this blog Missions and Discipleship because as a follower, disciple, of Jesus I will not be able to mature as His disciple unless I am being conscious and diligent about obeying everything that Jesus wants us to do. Now let's expand the definition of Missions. Missions includes all activity whether in word or deed, whether local, in another area of our country or a foreign land therefore it is clearly something that we all can be involved with in some type of manner. I would encourage though to be involved in multiply types of Missions activity. I can do this by praying, by giving and by going. Our growth and stability as a Christian is clearly connected with loving what God loves and hating what God hates. It is abundantly clear that God loves Missions. II Peter 3:9 "The Lord is not slow in keeping his promse, as some understand slowness. he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance." John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that He sent His one and only Son into the world, that everyone who believes would not perish but have eternal life." This is the heartbeat of God, the heartbeat of Missions and as a growing disciple of Jesus I want it to be my heartbeat and as a pastor I am encouraging you to make it your heartbeat as a growing disciples of Jesus Christ
God bless you with His love and peace.

Pastor John

Transitions

Transitions are a part of life. At Bethel we are going through one of those transitions when Matt resigned as youth pastor and worship leader. There are good transitions and unfortunately many churches have suffered some very rough transitions. This transition though unexpected is not going to be a rough transition because Matt is leaving on good terms and we have some people in place who will be helping out to make this a smooth transition. The attitudes of those involved is one of the keys that will help us to continue to move forward with our ministries. I am thankful that change though can be hard, can also become a positive when everyone involved is seeking the good of the whole and not their own good. The lessons we are learning here at church can become life lessons for us in our personal lives as well. I am thankful that we do not experience life transitions every week or even every month but knowing what to do when they come will make them smoother. First, accept the fact that change is part of life. As hard as I may want life to remain as it is that is not possible. There are job changes, a moving to a new community, a death of a loved one, a prolong illness or any number life altering events. When I accept the change I then can begin to move forward to how life in reality is going to be and not how I may want it to be. Second, our attitude of thankfulness is vital because it will help us to keep the right perspective on the situation and a good attitude towards the person who is at the center of the change. Every now and again it is good to do an attitude check when there is any amount of stress in our lives and especially so when it involves change. Third, commit to do something positive in the midst of the transition. The example for us at church is not just to say good bye but to host a luncheon on their behalf and send them forth with a love gift and our prayers. Fourth, ask God for renewed strength for the new days that are on the horizon. With every new season in life we need fresh strength from the Lord so we are operating on His strength and not just our own. This is what we are doing in the transition here at church and if you will follow that model when a major transition happens in your life I believe you will find yourself a stronger person just as I believe we will become a stronger church not because Matt is leaving but because we are handling this transition in a God honoring manner.
May the God of a love and mercy overshadow your life.

Pastor John

Put your hope in God.

There times the Lord seems to arrange a particular day that sets your heart to focus on a spiritual reality or principle for a season. That is exactly what the Lord did for me last Sunday while on vacation. In my devotions I read Psalm 42 & 43 which has this verse three times. "Why are you downcast, O my soul? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God." There were some things that I have been praying about that the only solution is a miracle but I was still trying to figure out how to solve the problem as well. I do not know if you have that tendency as well but I needed to hear again that spiritual truth of putting my hope in God. As I was meditating on that I saw a picture in my mind of a small narrow room that needed to be rearranged in order to be more useful but in order to do that I had to move the window in the room. That was all I saw but I know there was something I needed to hear from the Lord and then do that thing in order to things to align up right to see God perform a miracle. Then the morning worship service seemed to be designed for me. Though I was a visitor, the songs of worship service caused me to weep and the morning message was on loving the Father which meant to obey Him. The preacher made a distinction between liking God and loving God. In short liking God is what God can do for you but if I love God I must follow Him and obey Him. After the message I went to the altar to commit all that the Lord was speaking to me. I committed afresh to be open to listen to Him and then to obey Him. That is I committed to the Lord that I would put my hope in God. I would learn more of what it means to trust Him. I am excited about the miracles that God is going to do in the future but I need to put my hope in God first which means to love and obey God in all that He wants me to do. I encourage you to read Psalm 42 & 43 if you have been a little discouraged or down lately. Put your hope in God.

May His love and grace overshadow your life.

Pastor John

Having Fun

On Sunday we are having our annual Winter Carnival for the kids of this community. This is a fun event for the kids set in a very comfortable Christian setting here at church. It is a lot of had work for the workers with much planning but it is design to be a lot of fun for everyone involved. I believe God designed us to enjoy life. John 10:10 Jesus said "I have come that you might have life and life abundantly." I am not saying that everything in life is fun but there ought to be season of much fun and especially so when it comes to ministry for kids. Far too much the impression so have of church is that one cannot have fun at church. I trust will can begin to change that impression and let the kids know that God loves them and has their best interest in mind which includes them having lots of fun growing up. Let us pray that this Sunday will be a great day of ministry to kids and that they and their families will have lots of fun. "The joy of the Lord is our strength." Nehemiah 8:10 May the Lord strength you with joy and peace.

Pastor John Backes

Growing Pains

The phrase growing pains is often referred to young people who have a huge growth in a short amount of time and though what is happening to them is natural it still hurts. Their growing actually causes some pain. What is true in the physical realm of life is also true in the spiritual realm of life. The one thing different in the spiritual realm is that one can and will have growing pains at any stage of their life. We know what causes pain in the physical but what causes pain in our spiritual life in growing. First, Hebrews 12:4-11 says that God disciplines us because He loves us and discipline is not pleasant for that moment but it does accomplish a life righteousness when completed. The more I learn to cooperate with the Lord in this area the more I can minimize the pain. Second, in Romans 8:28 the apostle Paul says that all things what out together for the good to them that love God. Now it does not say that all things are pleasant and painless but if we will allow God to work in and throug our circumstances and though there is a fair amount of discomfort we have the assurance that God can bring good out of the junk of life. Third, II Corinthians 1:3-7 communicated that I can comfort others by the comfort that I have received. The reason that I need to receive comfort is due to unpleasant life circumstances. I learn the faithfulness and strength of God during difficult times. The growing pain is that once I have received that comfort I then can be used by the Lord to bring comfort to someone else. That can only happen after a season of growing pains and coming to a place of maturity to help someone who is in a similar situation. Everyone who names Jesus as their Savior ought to want to growth in their faith relationship with Jesus Christ but let us understand that there are growing pains in this process. When I allow God to do His work in my life then I come forth as a instrument in the hands of the Lord Jesus to bring hope and comfort to others. This is the exciting aspect of our spiritual growing pains.

May the God of all comfort and strength be with you this week.

Pastor John Backes

Being a servant

Communion is always a special time for me and yesterday was no exception. The focus was that being a servant. The day before Jesus was going to be crucified He had His last meal with His disciples. The disciples did not know this but Jesus did so everything He did or said was of great importance. After entering the house they would have this last meal Jesus washed the feet of the disciples. This was an act that is normally reserved for a lowly servant to accomplish but in the room there were just the 12 disciples and Jesus. No one took ths task upon themselves and Jesus taking this opportunity to teach and to demonstrate the importance of being a faithful servant. John 13 records that after Jesus did this He instructed them to go and do what He had just done. It was the act of being a servant that Jesus was modeling and He used the washing of the feet to demonstrate that truth. Jesus also said that they would not understand this now but later would understand. The later was after His death and resurrection. The early church was a great example of the disciples being servants, not focusing only on their needs but of the needs of others. May we follow the example of Jesus and live the life of being a servant. When we walk as Jesus did we can have the assurance that the Father will be pleased and when He is pleased He will shower us with His blessings and favor. May the Lord Jesus Christ be with us as we follow Him.

Pastor John Backes

Perseverance needed in tough times

We have had some tough weather conditions these last couple of days. Preparation is one of the keys to handle difficult weather conditions but another is perseverance. There are some days that you just need to endure and wait until some things get better. One of the keys is to do what you can do during these days. There is a lesson for our spiritual lives in that we all face tough seasons of life when things could be a lot better. There are times that there is just not much you can do to change anything and this is when perseverance is needed. This quality of character is vital to keep going and not just enduring but managing those days with grace and dignity. I firmly believe that God is more interested in my character then He is in my comfort. It is easy to have good character when everything is going well but the true test of character is in how we react when there are tough days and seasons of life. I encourage you to keep your eyes on the prize for which God has called you. Be looking ahead and pursue the things that bring pleasure to the heart of God. In doing this it will help you to persevere. Remember what the Psalmist said "I am confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord" Psalm 17:13-14

Pastor John Backes

Being prepared

There is a reality of living in Northern Indiana that we all must face from time to time which is the possibility of a major winter storm. At the time of this writing we are only under a watch but most people are still preparing some things just to make sure everything will be OK in event this storm disrupts our normal life routine. This is a very good thing because those who are not prepared are not able to coup with severe weather conditions nearly as well as those who are prepared. While this is true on a physical basis I wondered this morning of how true this is on a spiritual basis. Here are a couple of questions to consider. Are you prepared to go to heaven? Now no one knows when that might be but it is a little too late to prepare oneself when you meet your Creator. Jesus told us how to prepare for that in John 3:3 "Unless a man is born again you cannot enter the Kingdom of God." And in John 14:6 "I am the way, the truth, the life, no man comes unto the Father except through me." Jesus told us how to be prepared to get to heaven. I encourage you to take a little time to make sure you are prepared to get to heaven. Are you prepared to the temptations and difficulties of life? Revelation 12:11 "They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony" I prepare myself by speaking forth my faith in Jesus Christ as my Savior and Lord. By recognizing that through Jesus Christ and His shed blood on the cross that I have victory over the things that want my defeat. I need to speak it and confess it on a continual basis in order to benefit by the power that this relationship with Christ gives me. One last question: Are you prepared to love God? Jesus told us the greatest commandment is to love God with all my heart, soul, strength and mind. This means that loving God cannot be an after thought but I most give my all to love God. I will not be effective in doing this if I do not prepare my life in such a manner so I can love God. For me this happens by giving God the first hour of everyday when I get up. I love to read books that will help me to love God and to help with to understand God's ways so that I can act in a manner pleasing to Him. I look forward to Sunday Worship because it is that time of the week that I get a chance with my fellow believers to express my love for God. In order to be prepared for this I will prayer extra on Saturday night and Sunday morning so that I am properly prepared to worship and serve God on the day of worship. Let us not only be prepared to face the winter storms of Indians but be prepared to face the spiritual storms of life as well. Enjoy the snow.

Pastor John Backes

Snowing again today.

Just a short blog today but reminder for us who live in snow country. The prophet Isaiah said "Come now, let us reason together," says the Lord. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool." Isaiah 1:18 May the snow remind us today that we have forgiveness of sin through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. I John 1;9 "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." Though I do not want anymore snow I thank God for the reminder that I have been forgiven much. Thank You Lord for forgiving me and granting me another chance to live a life pleasing to You. Help me no to take for granted all that You have done for me and the price that You paid that my sins could be wipe away and I could be white as snow. May he snow today remain you of God's forgiving power in your life.

Things to look forward to.

What do you look forward to? The answer to that question will vary greatly because of different interests and backgrounds. Now that we are in midst of a cold winter many people are looking forward to Spring. I am looking forward to vacation the first two weeks of March because we are headed South for warmer weather. On a spiritual note; what are you looking forward to? The answer to that question for me is our Sunday morning worship service. I look forward seeing everyone, to the worship singing, to our prayer times around the altar, to being able to share God's Word with the people and knowing that I will be in His presence. This is clearly the best time of the week for me. There is another aspect of the service on Sunday that I am looking forward to which is we are having another water baptismal service. It is always exciting to participate in a person's journey of faith. Water baptism is a great event in the life of a disciple of Jesus. I trust you are looking forward to this service coming this week. It will be a great day in the Lord and I know that God's presence will surround those who are being baptized.
May that Lord grant to you an ever increasing anticipation of what He is going to do in our midst this Sunday.

Pastor John

Do not give up

During the Sunday morning worship service we had a great time of prayer. Many people were pouring out their hearts to God and receiving encouragement from the Spirit. Towards the end of that time of prayer I sensed the words "Do not give up". There is often a delay from the time of the prayer to when the prayer is answered. Here are a couple of things I do know. One: God hears our cries. There are many verses that establish that truth, Psalm 141:1. Two: God is faithful to all His promises. Hebrews 10:23 is just one of many verses that express His faithfulness. Three: God has won the victory which means I can be victourious. Romans 8:32 expresses the thought of being more then a conquerer. Four: with God there is nothing too difficult or impossible. Jeremiah 32:17 expresses that thought and Jesus also said that with nothing is impossible. Hebrews 6:12 "We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised." Let us continue in our faith that God is able to bring about that which I am believing Him for in 2011. Do not give up!!!! It is through faith and patience that we receive what has been promised. Let's stand upon the character of God and hold on to His promises until we received that which we are believing God for. The God of wonders will grant to you wonderful answers to prayer if you believe and do not give up.

Pastor John

Trusting God in 2011

On Sunday, Jan. 2, I encouraged the people to write down what they were believing God for in 2011. I am very encouraged by the hunger and thrist in the hearts of the people at Bethel. There are going to be some mighty miracles happening in the lives of Bethel family this coming year. Though you may not know all the needs in the prayer bowl I encourage you to prayer that God hears our cries and answers our prayers. Here are some of the most frequent requests that were given.
1. Salvation of family and friends, especially husbands.
2. Restoration within families & marriages and relational healing.
3. Find a new job and freedom from debt.
4. Growth in their faith, spiritual growth.
5. Growth at Bethel A/G.
6. Establishment of Celebrate Recovery and breaking of addictions.
7. More water baptisms and Holy Spirit Baptisms, an increase of spiritual gifts, of signs and wonders and healing in the church.

God is going to answer these prayers. Let us approach the throne of grace with boldness with a heart of faith, expecting to hear of great and mighty things that God is doing in our midst. Let us be devoted to prayer, Colossians 4:2.

Pastor John