The Presbyter's Page
Electronic Edition – May 2002
Original articles published December 1997
Section 12 - LA
District UPCI
Donald Bryan - Presbyter
Notifications for the electronic editions of
The Presbyter's Page are never sent unsolicited. If you believe you have
received notice about this newsletter in error, or wish to be removed from our
mailing list, visit our web site at: http://www.pentecostalsonline.org/articles.html.
Near the top of that page, you will find a box
where you may unsubscribe simply by entering your e-mail address, highlighting
the "unsubscribe" button and clicking on the "Submit"
button.
Brother Donald Bryan may be contacted directly
at DBryanUPC@aol.com. You can
also contact us by writing to webmaster@pentecostalsonline.org.
Sermon Thought: “Why I
Need The Church"
The Top 10
Steps That Will Help Get You Unstuck
Sermon Thought:
“Why
I Need The Church”
I Timothy 3:15
1 Tim 3:15
“But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave
thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar
and ground of the truth.”
The church is the “ecclesia” – the called out ones. It is not a building, but the people. The church is not found in the Old Testament, but in the New Testament, nothing else is found. God’s Spirit moved on prophets wandering in deserts in the Old Testament, but in the New Testament, God moves in the church.
When God spoke in the New Testament, He spoke to the church. When He gave revival, it was to the church. When He added, it was to the church. When He said assemble, it was to the church. Despite the divisions and problems, God spoke to the church.
What is God saying? Why do I need the church? If the church is full of hypocrites who just gossip, don’t do right, and want money, why did God command us to stay in the church?
Here’s why:
1. God moves in the church. Just as the Shekinah glory fell on the ark, the Spirit falls on the church. Whenever you find an angel, prophet or pastor speaking for God, you find him in the church. It is at the church that I feel conviction and am moved, burdened and challenged.
2. God gives direction and His word in the church. God’s gifts to the church were the five-fold ministry. It was by the preaching that I’m saved, perfected and edified. God speaks in the church.
3. The church is where I prove my love and become a Christian. God never let’s us get away with self-analysis – “God knows my heart and knows I love Him.” No, God says instead, “If you love Me, show Me.” It is in the church that I show love. Too many come believing the church is perfect or should be. All the while it is full of imperfect people. But, you can’t grow and mature until you can love people. And, if you hate your brother, you don’t love God. (I John 4:20)
4. The church provides authority and accountability. No one lives outside authority and pleases God. A rebellious spirit is resident in every heart; therefore, all of us need authority and accountability. The church sets guidelines on how to live.
5. The church is a place of worship. We must worship the Lord and it is in the church that I am often moved to worship.
6. The church is a place to prove faithfulness. The Lord will only call those who’ve been faithful. It is in the church that I prove my faithfulness – in attendance, giving, worship and love. I need the church! It is where I grow, receive the Word, and fellowship. It is where love is shown, where I prove myself, learn authority and find God.
Don’t Sweat The Small Stuff
Here are some simple ways to keep the little things from taking over your life:
1.
Ask yourself the question, “Will this matter a year
from now?” Is what you are worked
up over going to matter a year from now?
If not, don’t let it destroy you today.
2.
Practice Humility.
The less compelled you are to try to prove yourself to others, the
easier it is to feel peace inside.
3.
Remember that you become what you practice the
most. How do you spend your
time? What you do is what you become.
4.
Every day, tell at least one person something you like,
admire, or appreciate about them. Telling
others that you appreciate them takes almost no effort, but pays enormous
dividends.
5.
Choose your battles wisely. Every circumstance or problem is not worth the fight. There will always be things and people that
don’t do right.
6.
Life is a test.
It is only a test. When you
look at life as a test, you begin to see each issue as an opportunity to grow.
7.
Remind yourself that when you die, your “In Basket”
won’t be empty. The purpose of life
isn’t necessarily to get it all done, but to do the right things.
8.
Learn to live in the present moment. “Life is what’s happening while we’re
busy making other plans.”
9.
Think of what you have, instead of what you want. The Apostle Paul taught contentment and
not always waiting for some future event to happen.
10.
Understand the statement, “Wherever you go, there you
are.” We tend to believe that if we were somewhere else, we’d be
happy. Whatever you are, that’s what
you’ll be wherever you go.
11.
Become a better listener. Most of us are only adequate listeners, but the best gift you
can give someone is to listen.
12.
Remember, one hundred years from now, all new
people. A hundred years from now,
we will all be gone from this planet.
Remembering this can help us keep perspective during times of stress.
13.
Be grateful when you’re feeling good and graceful when
you’re feeling bad. Good and bad
come and go. No one is neither happy
nor sad all the time.
14.
Resist the urge to criticize. When we judge or criticize someone, it says nothing about
that person; it merely says something about our own need to be critical.
15.
See the innocence.
One of the most frustrating aspects of life is not being able to
understand other people’s behavior. We
see them as “guilty” instead of “innocent.”
But, when you see others as not trying to hurt you, you can relax.
The Top 10 Steps That Will
Help Get You Unstuck
It’s not unusual to feel
stuck, trapped, and unable to move from a situation you feel is stifling. Actually, it’s part of life and growth.
But, getting “stuck in” and “growing through” situations are different. Here are ten ways to shift from one to the
other:
1.
Step
back and ask yourself what’s really going on.
When you’re caught up in the stuff of everyday life, it’s easy to
lose objectivity. It’s good to set
aside a little time each day to challenge the obviousness of what seems to be
going on. Is there a lesson to be
learned that you are missing? Might
that setback really be a step forward?
Will things really turn out as badly as you think they will?
2.
Consider whether what’s happening has happened before. Is this a unique situation or is it just another example, in
different garb, of an issue you’ve failed to confront before? If it’s the latter, maybe now’s the time to
solve it and move on.
3.
Assume that present events and circumstances may be less of a “problem”
than parts of a larger “process.” There’s a
fair case to be made for the notion that, in this life, all is process rather
than result. In other words, what this
life is really about is growth and learning.
Viewed in this light, where you’re heading is not as important as how
you choose to get there. (For those who
are strongly goal-oriented, this may be tough to swallow.)
4.
Ask yourself what you can do next. It’s
the small steps that lead to successful journeys. Don’t get sucked in by the suggestion that you’ve got to solve it
all today.
5.
Do something – anything! When you’re stuck, taking
any step puts you in a different place and helps change your perspective, even
if it’s a wrong move! And, doing
something could be a conscious decision to do absolutely nothing!
6.
Look for support nearby. Almost always, help is at
hand, a phone call or a touch away. We
tend to look out there or off into the future, thinking that the help we need
is just not available to us in our present situation. If, instead, you begin with the assumption that the tools you
need to solve the problem are close at hand, you’ll be amazed at how it
sharpens your vision!
7.
Take the negatives, one by one, and toss them out. Negatives can be just as powerful as positives,
depending on how much energy you can give them. It’s your choice.
8.
Take one positive, unselfish project and make it yours. Help someone else, even if you think that you’re the
one who needs help. And don’t be
surprised if, in your darkest moment, someone comes knocking at your door –
asking for help.
9.
If lack is a problem, try substituting the word “service” for profit or
gain. You “get” from what you lack,
but you “give” from what you are. When
you begin to consider seriously how you can be of service, it can be absolutely
amazing how much you discover you have to give.
10.
Be grateful for every blessing.
It’s
not big jumps that lead to greatness – it’s the small steps. The “little” good things that happen to us
(and sometimes they seem to be very little) are tests of our awareness. It pays off not to flunk these tests!
In an unfolding story that has gone largely unreported, a committee of the United Nations that included the likes of Mikhail Gorbachev, Steven C. Rockefeller, Maurice Strong and others, have finished a document they call “The Earth Charter.” The purpose of this document is to outline the changes they believe need to take place in the world to bring peace and a one-world government under U.N. auspices. To present this document to the U.N. in New York, a group in Vermont has built an “Arc of Hope” to house the document.
In contrast to the Ark of the Covenant that housed the Ten Commandments
of Almighty God, the design of this imitation mocks God’s truth and instead
honors the world’s spiritual alternatives.
The side and top panels are decorated with symbolism “celebrating Earth
and all her living elements” with designs of animals, pagan earth-centered
religious magic symbols, a Native American medicine shield and the quartered
circle of contemporary witchcraft. It
sports carrying rods that are, in their words, “fashioned like unicorn horns
which, according to legend, render evil ineffective.”
Those of us who study biblical end time prophecy know that ultimately
all those who do not recognize and worship the true God would eventually turn
to worshiping the created instead of the Creator. They exchange the worship of Jesus Christ and worship demons
instead. But, to show just how brazen
the devil is, he has chosen to replace God’s holy Ark of the Testimony that
holds God’s Word and replace it with another Ark containing rebellious man’s
alternative. Who would have thought
that it would be presented in such an in-your-face idolatrous blasphemy!
One author states:
“God tells us that in the last days, Christians will suffer terrible
persecution under a global government that hates our God. Some kind of ‘abomination of desolation’ is
to appear in the Holy Place that will demonstrate Satan’s ultimate blasphemy
against the Holy King of the Universe.”
Could this “Ark of Hope” be it?
The reason you may not have heard about this before now is that it was
unveiled on September 9, 2001, just two days before Osama bin Laden’s suicide
terrorists attacked New York and Washington D.C.
To read more about this development you can visit http://www.fivedoves.com/letters/may2002/shackman52.htm. There you will find links to other sites
including one specifically on the Ark of Hope with photos. (I wouldn’t want anyone to think I was
making something like this up!)
Since its unveiling, the group that built the ark have placed it on a
cart and are dragging it through cities and towns in Vermont collecting
endorsements from the various political subdivisions, and allowing people to
participate in the march to bring it to the United Nations building in New York
City. Yes, sometimes truth is stranger
than fiction and things like these pop up to let us know just how far along we
are. We do indeed appear to be living
in the last minutes of the last days.
Visit our on-line Christian
Bookstore formed in association with Amazon.com by clicking on the button
below. See some of the newest titles in
Christian literature or in Christian music.
Interested in something specific?
You can conduct searches by author, title or subject.
Spread the Word!
If you enjoyed visiting our site,
Click
here to recommend us to your friends
We
welcome your comments and questions.
You can reach us by e-mail at: webmaster@pentecostalsonline.org