ENCOURAGING OTHERS

March 11th, 2013 | By admin

by Katt Anderson

Everyone likes encouragement. Everyone likes to be praised. The one person that comes to mind is Barnabas in the New Testament.

The first we hear of Barnabas is Acts 4:36 “And Joses, who was also named Barnabas by the apostles (which is translated Son of Encouragement), a Levite of the country of Cyprus.” His name meant, “Son of Encouragement.” What a beautiful way to be described. He was apparently someone who encouraged others in their lives and in their salvation.

Barnabas was trustworthy and not afraid of what others would say. After Paul was converted to Christ, everyone was afraid Paul was still going to prosecute them for being a Christian. Barnabas was not afraid. He trusted Paul and even brought him to Jerusalem to the apostles, Acts 9:27. ” But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. And he declared to them how he had seen the Lord on the road, and that He had spoken to him, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus.”

Barnabas trusted Paul. He was not afraid he would put him in jail. By his trust, he and Paul became very good friends. By showing his trust to the apostles, he helped Paul to be accepted by the Christians.

Paul did not have a very good reputation with the Christians. He had had many Christians killed because he was a very religious Jew. When he realized Christ died for him, he made a complete change in his life. Christians did not trust Paul, thinking this was a way to learn more about them and prosecute them.

Barnabas was also a giving man. He sold his property and gave it to the Christians in Jerusalem. If he was going to preach Jesus, he had no use of property because he would be traveling. Some so called Christians tried to imitate him, but they lied about their money. Barnabas gave everything he had to help others. Acts 4:36 and 37, “And Joses, who was also named Barnabas by the apostles (which is translated Son of Encouragement), a Levite of the country of Cyprus, ³⁷ having land, sold it, and brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet.” We see how generous he was.

In the next chapter, Acts 5, we read of Ananias and Sapphira tried to imitate him by selling their land. The only thing they did was lie about the money. They said they were giving all of their money, but they held some back. This sin caused them their life.

Barnabas was a wonderful teacher. He made srveral missionary journeys with Paul. The book of Acts in the New Testament is filled with his works with Paul.

Most of all Barnabas had faith. He had faith in God. He knew what he was doing was right. He spent his life teaching others about Jesus Christ. I pray we all have a Barnabas faith and encourage others daily.

SNAKE ON THE PLANE

January 21st, 2013 | By admin

by Paul Holland

            How would you feel if you looked out your airplane window and saw a python on the wing?                                      

Personally, I would put my book down and be entertained for the rest of the flight.

            That’s exactly what happened recently on a Quantas flight from Cairns, Australia to Papua, New Guinea. The snake was a 10-foot-long python. A passenger videotaped the snake’s struggle in the frigid air. The wind banged the snake against the plane. The snake did hang on until the plane landed but, I’m sorry to announce, it was pronounced dead on arrival.

            We don’t know how the snake found itself on the wing of the plane but it surely did not plan on what it eventually experienced.

            Sometimes, you and I find ourselves battered by life in situations we did not plan. Sometimes, life is hard. It has its ups and downs. Life gives us moments of laughter and times of tears. Sometimes, it seems that the times of tears are more often, stronger or more intense, than the moments of laughter.

            Solomon writes, “In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man may not find out anything that will be after him” (Ecclesiastes 7:14).

            When life is beating against you, do like the snake on the plane – hang on! Keep faith in God. Sometimes it seems like God lets us get to the end of the rope before He steps in. I doubt it, although it often seems like we’re at the end of our rope before God steps in. But what God is doing is testing our faith. Will we hang on?

            If you do hang on to your faith in God, I guarantee your arrival will turn out better than that snake’s.

FAITH AND TRUST

January 18th, 2013 | By admin

by Katt Anderson

We talked last week about faith. Along with faith, we have to look at trust. If you cannot trust what the Scripture says, you cannot have faith. Faith and trust go hand in hand.

In the Old Testament we read about Abraham’s faith. He trusted God. Sometimes his trust failed. He was afraid what a king would do, so he made his own plans. That failed. In Genesis 12, Abraham trusted God when he told him to leave his homeland and go to Canaan. God told him he would be the father of a great nation. Abraham trusted God then.

When he and his wife Sarah arrived in Egypt, Abraham’s trust became weak. He was afraid Pharaoh would kill him if the king found out Sarah was his wife. She was a beautiful woman and kings liked beautiful people around them. Abraham told Sarah to say she was his sister. Do you see Abraham depending on himself instead of God? His trust and faith wavered.

Of course Pharaoh wanted to marry Sarah, but God intervened. Abraham then realized he needed to trust God. We are like that today. We think we know best, but God still is in control of us. We still need to trust him.

Sarah did not trust God in Genesis 18 when God told Abraham she would bear a son. Sarah was about 89 years old, far too old to have children. She laughed when she heard what God said. The next year she did have a child, Isaac. How many times today do we listen to what someone says about the Bible and forget to investigate whether it is right or wrong. If we have faith and trust God, we will study God’s word and do what is right.

Even the young generation today listen to their peers instead of listening to their parents. They usually have a lot of trust in what their friends say and do. In reality, they should be trusting on God’s Word.

God’s Word doesn’t change. It has been the same for centuries. It will remain the same as long as the earth stands. God has not given us anything new since the New Testament was written. We have to have faith in His Word, for it is truth. We need to trust what the Bible says. Without trust in God’s teaching, we don’t have faith.

Have you ever participated in an exercise where one person stands in a ring of friends. The person in the middle falls back trusting their friends to catch them. They have to have faith that their friends will be there and they won’t hit the ground. This is supposed to increase your confidence in others. What if one person in that group doesn’t try to catch the person falling? The trust is gone. This is the same in obeying God’s Word. We have to trust that everything in the Bible is correct. Studying builds faith, just like being caught by our friends builds faith and trust in others. Without our knowledge of the Bible, we have no faith or trust. We fall and no one catches us.

My plea is for you to study God’s Word each day. It takes time, but it’s worth it. Make sure you believe what the Bible teaches. Make sure you believe and trust in God. You will be a stronger person when you do.

WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH, THE TOUGH GET GOING (even alone)

January 11th, 2013 | By admin

by Paul Holland

            A certain holy courage and a confidence of faith are necessary for a great victory in spiritual matters. When the going gets tough, the tough get going (sometimes even alone).  Let’s see how this principle is revealed in the life of Ehud – Judges 3.12-30.

ISRAEL IS PUT TO THE TEST:

            God commanded Israel should destroy, wipe out the unbelievers in Palestine (Deuteronomy 20.17-18).  However, the people grew tired of fighting and they left the pagans in the land. They sank into slavery for eighteen years (3.12-14).

            In order to punish the people of Israel, God strengthened their enemy (3.12).  God wanted to discipline Israel and Moab (Eglon) was the means of disciplining them

            When you are put to the test, what do you do?  God puts us to the test for the same reason – to see if we will obey Him or not – if we love Him supremely or not.  Does it depend on the number of “Christians” who stand with you?  Do you stand in the right path – regardless of the number?  We see a man in our story who confronted sin and he said: “Not me, not here, not now.”  Ehud stood shoulder to shoulder with God – even alone – and he won

GOD CAN CONQUER ENEMIES THROUGH ONE INDIVIDUAL:

            Ehud rises to save the Israelites (3.15-16). Ehud was a left-handed man. Ehud used his “talent” for the glory of God.  He went to pay Eglon tribute. The Bible says that Eglon was “a very fat man” (3.17).  Could Ehud beat Eglon in hand-to-hand combat? Perhaps not.

            Eglon stood up in order to hear the message of God and Ehud gave it to him.  Eglon did not expect that message! But he stood up and Ehud drew his sword from his left side and implanted it into Eglon’s stomach!

            When you confront temptation, what do you do? After you conquer temptation, do you turn and strengthen the brethren? After you become a Christian, do you go to war shoulder to shoulder with your brethren? After you reach the “pinnacle” of a spiritual experience, do you do what Ehud did?

            Ehud turned and inspired the Israelites (3.27-29).  Ehud returned, not to the inheritance of the seed of Benjamin, but to the inheritance of the seed of Ephraim and he blew the trumpet. The children of Israel descended with him from the mountain and made him their leader (verse 27).

            This is the attitude of a “conqueror”.  When the children of God have need of a leader, he accepts the challenge.  The children of the Lord served for eighteen years in slavery and during that time they cast off the yoke of the Moabites.  When the going gets tough, the tough get going (even alone).

            What does God have in view for you?  What will you do?  Even if you are alone?  When God puts His people to the test, those who are bold and faithful get going.

ASK AUNT MARY- DO I HAVE FAITH?

January 9th, 2013 | By admin

by Aunt Mary

A reader recently wrote and asked a question for me. Her question is below.

How do I build up faith?? Right now I’m kind of confused whether I have faith or not. I know the verse:

Matthew 17:20 KJV

20 And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.

I think I have faith faith. But what if my faith is smaller than a mustard seed?? Please answer my question

Faith is something we do not see, hear, feel, taste, or smell. Most of us have asked the same question you did. We want something tangible. Something we know is there. Faith is invisible, but we all have faith in something.

The scripture you quoted is a good example of faith, or lack of it. The disciples could not release a demon from a man’s son, because of their lack of faith, or belief. Jesus teaches us about faith all through the New Testament, but we learn about faith in the Old Testament also.

Hebrews chapter 11 is called the faith chapter. Look at the first verse. “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. “  This defines faith. It is something we hope for, and our faith in God is not seen. If you will read the remainder of this chapter, you will see the faith of Abraham, Moses, and other men of the Bible. It shows their faith in following God’s commands.

We seem to lose our faith in God and instead, have faith in man. We have faith when we board an airplane we will arrive on time. We have faith the big bird will not fall from the sky. What is that faith? It’s man’s calculations of the dynamics of air and wind. It is their knowledge of tracking the time it takes to get from one place to another. We have faith in that, but we don’t have faith in what God tells us to do.

How do we get the faith that our forefathers had? Romans 10:17 tells us “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” The only way I can get a deeper, better faith is by studying and hearing the Word of God.  If we want to grow our faith, we have to study His Word. We cannot do it any other way. Without daily study, we grow weak.

This is the same rule of anything we do. We study to pass tests. It would be ridiculous to go to the driver’s test station without ever looking at the driving manual or sitting behind a steering wheel in a car. Even if we had all the faith in the world, the chances of us passing the test would be slim. If we never open our Bible or attend church services, we know nothing about the teachings of God.

In summing this all up, dear reader, you can attain more faith by studying the Bible. I would recommend studying both the Old and the New Testaments. The history in the Old Testament about the faith of Abel, Enoch, Noah, Jonah, Moses, Joshua, David, and all the other people of the book, will inspire you to be a better person. Study the New Testament. Faith is mentioned in the New Testament, Matthew through Revelations, 280 times. That astounds me to know that it is talked about that much. We all need faith. We can increase our faith each day by studying God’s Word.

THE FALL OF A BIG MAN

December 28th, 2012 | By admin

by Katt Anderson

Today when we see a tall person on a basketball court, we comment on how tall they are. They may be seven feet plus, and to us, they are a tall person. People have gotten taller in the last  100 hears. Even in Bible times, a tall person would probably be around six feet. Think about how the army of King Saul felt when they faced a man over nine feet tall. That’s about the size of Goliath. He was a very big man.

Most likely, Goliath was not only tall, but strong or muscular. He was a very big man even by our standards today. Not only was he big, but he was mean. He had a dirty mouth and shouted horrible things to the Israelite soldiers. Today we would call him a bully.

The whole arm of King Saul were frightened of him. He would stand and make fun of the army, ridicule them because they were afraid of him. He was having fun making them feel bad. Isn’t that what a bully does today? They like to make us feel bad.

D avid was a teenager when he met Goliath. He was not a big man. He only came to the battlefield to check on his brothers and bring them food. He had not come to be made fun of by this huge man. Still, he entered the picture and saw how Goliath talked to the soldiers. He could not understand why the soldiers were afraid of the giant. Didn’t they trust in God? Wouldn’t God help them through this battle?

David did not appreciate the way Goliath was talking to his people, and decided he would do something to stop him. Then the soldiers ridiculed David for thinking he could bring down such a mighty man. David had courage that God would help him in every situation. He knew God would deliver His people from this tyrant.

After having killed a lion and a bear, this Philistine did not seem so bad to David. At least he stood still and wouldn’t fight him like the lion and the bear did. He could take a chance of being rid of that giant. He had confidence in himself. Today, we lack that confidence a lot of times. We’re afraid to stand up for what Jesus teaches.

King Saul tried to give David armor, but it weighed him down, and he could not move well. He threw the armor and the shield off. Instead of all the defensive articles of battle, he picked up five stones from the creek. He listened to Goliath make fun of him as he walked within range of this huge man. He put a stone in his sling and slung it around. When he let go, the stone found its mark in the forehead of Goliath. The mighty man fell with a loud thump. David had killed an enormously large man with a stone.

In your minds eye, can you see Goliath start to wobble and fall? Can you feel the earth shake as his giant body hit the ground? The loud noise probably hurt the ears of those nearby. I wonder if his body made a dent in the earth. This bully would no longer hurl insults and cursing to the people of Israel. One young man had courage and faith to face this huge problem.

Today we have problems that seem as large as Goliath. Do you turn your back and run, thinking they will go away if you ignore them? Or, are you more like David, willing to face the problems in your life? Nothing is too big for God. Our faith and trust in Him will help us through all of our problems. We must have the faith and courage of David.

THREE BASIC FACTS

September 24th, 2012 | By admin

STRENGTH IN YOU

September 19th, 2012 | By admin

by Paul Holland

Psalm 102

         In the last few months, we have experienced in our congregation a number of setbacks. Surgeries that were serious. Extended hospital stays. Cancer diagnoses. Layoffs. Trying to find a permanent job. Many of us, in one way or another, are experiencing pain.

            Pain. How do we deal with it? Do we deny it? Do we become cynical? Do we become bitter? Do we become angry?

            Look at Psalm 102 and consider how the psalmist handles his pain…

            Strophe 1 (verses 1-5) – The plea for help. The author feels like he is coming to the end of his rope. There are five ways in verses 1-2 that the psalmist calls on God to listen to his prayer. “In combination, these varied modes of expression reveal the urgency of the need and the humility and reverence with which mortal man should approach the holy God” (Ash & Miller, 339).

            Strophe 2 (verses 6-11) – The description of the distress. He feels like a “fish out of water.” He is lonely and can’t sleep. He eats ashes as he stresses over his condition and drinks his tears. He feels like God’s indignation and wrath is directed toward him. Reading verse 11, it seems that the psalmist not only can’t see the light at the end of his tunnel – he thinks he sees a tunnel at the end of his life.

            Strophe 3 (verses 12-17) – God’s character. The source of our strength and encouragement will always be the nature of God. In these verses, the psalmist talks about God’s nature, His actions, His reasons, and His interest in Jerusalem. In verse 17, he recognizes that God listens to the prayers of the destitute.

            Strophe 4 (verses 18-22) – Plans for the future. Just as Job did in Job 19:24ff, the psalmist here expresses his desire to record for posterity his cries and God’s answer. The psalmist can have plans for the future because God has no past. Verses 20-22 give four purposes for which God looks down from heaven. Eventually (verse 24), it is for men to serve the Lord.

            Strophe 5 (verses 23-28) – The psalmist’s faith strengthened. First, the psalmist recognizes that even if God takes his life, then God ought to be glorified. Ultimately, however, the psalmist recognizes that God is eternal. The world will come to an end but God is always the same. He never changes.

            Friends, we serve the same God Noah did, Abraham, Moses, Joseph, David… God may not work through us in miracles, but He will work. He is still in control and He still blesses His children who are faithful to Him.

            Trust Him. He does not change.

FAITHFUL AND FEARFUL

March 9th, 2012 | By admin

by Katt Anderson

Joshua was a faithful follower and a little fearful. He had big shoes to fill when Moses died. I’m sure he wondered if he was the man to fit them. Everyone has those fears, it’s normal. Joshua trusted in God and overcame his fear.

In Numbers 13, we read that God instructed Moses to select one man from each of the twelve tribes to spy out the land of Canaan. One of the men was Joshua, the son of Nun. When ten of the spies saw the giants, they became afraid. Joshua and Caleb were the exception. They knew with God’s help they could fight the people in Canaan and win. Because of Joshua and Caleb’s faithfulness, they were permitted to enter Canaan.

The children of Israel were led away by the other ten men, and they all died during their forty years of wandering. Joshua and Caleb stood up for what they saw, and their faith in God. They were permitted to enter the Land of Promise. This can be a s story for us today. We need to stand up for what we believe. What we have faith in.  (more…)

PAIN

November 21st, 2011 | By admin

Pain is something we don’t talk a lot about, but most of us have pain sometime or another. One of our young women at church has very bad migraine headaches, and I’m sharing a poem she wrote about the pain. I admire her for putting her thoughts down on paper.