SUNDAY – OCTOBER 19, 2014

Understanding the character of God causes a person to want to worship Him. That is why David wrote, “I will praise You, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing to You among the nations. For Your mercy reaches unto the heavens, and Your truth unto the clouds. Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let Your glory be above all the earth.” Psalm 57:9-11)

The Bible record indicates that the practical nature of Adam’s race (i.e. human beings, people like you and me) is comparable to that of sheep. We, like sheep, have a natural tendency to want to go our own way in opposition to the shepherd, yet we end following the herd, the crowd. Wherever those in front are heading is where we come right along behind them. Most of us have a different opinion of ourselves than that, yet the Bible remains true. We are like sheep! That’s why all types of fads from clothing to electronics are so common among us.

Last week I wrote a short excerpt from Mr. A. W. Tozer, but here are a few words I didn’t include. “Faithful believers in Christ are not going to give up to the temptation to judge themselves according to what others are doing.” (From pages 66 and 67 in Tragedy in the Church: The Missing Gifts.)  Unfortunately the tendency is for churches to “copy” other “fads” that seem to be successful in the “leading churches.” This has been true for at least the last century and seems to be getting worse as time goes on. Every congregation must be careful to seek what the Lord Jesus Christ wants them to do.

In another of his books, Mr. Tozer wrote an illustration about this idea. In essence he wrote that 100 pianos in a room are more in tune with each other if they are each tuned to an objective tuning fork. His warning is that we should not try to tune our piano by another piano, but rather by the tuning fork. It seems to me that Paul indicated this in I Corinthians 12 with his words about “many members” but it is the “same Spirit” in each one. We want to tune ourselves to the Spirit of our Lord rather than the “spirit” of some other congregation. Let’s use Jesus as our “tuning fork”!

Tuning myself to Jesus,

Pastor Doug

 

 

 

 

SUNDAY – OCTOBER 12, 2014

With gratitude we come to give thanks to the Lord for His boundless grace. As fellow pilgrims who stand in need of His grace, we extend the hand of fellowship and love to all who have come. We pray that we all will enter into the joy of the Lord as we worship and praise Him.

Brothers and sisters, we have a huge privilege and responsibility to serve our Lord by working to make Needmore Bible Church an active congregation bearing the fruit of His presence. Each of us has an important part. I want to challenge us with words from none other than A. W. Tozer. Oh, how my heart and mind are in total agreement with his understanding and sentiments expressed in the words that he wrote over a half-century ago.

     “Brethren, we fellowship here and mingle together and worship the Lord Christ as an assembly of the saints. We confess that all of the privileges and responsibilities rest upon us that once rested upon those believers at Pentecost. The plan and promises of God for His believing children have not diminished one little bit.

     “Nowhere in the Word of God is there any text or passage or line that can be twisted or tortured into teaching that the organic living church of Jesus Christ just prior to His return will not have every right and every power and every obligation that she knew in that early part of the book of Acts.

     “I am determined that we are not going to give up to the kind of times in which we live! There is such a thing as just getting tough about this, my brethren. There is such a thing as saying in the power of the Spirit, ‘I am not yielding and I will not give up to the times!’ This is something we can say to our Lord and to ourselves, and betimes, maybe, over our shoulder to the devil!

     “The faithful Body of Christ is not going to give up to the ways of the world or even to the more common ways of religion that we see all about us.

     “Faithful believers in Christ are not going to give up to the temptation to judge themselves according to what others are doing.

     “…They will be happy and continue to rejoice in the fact that they have taken the New Testament standard as their standard in their Christian fellowship.”

May we all be found by the Lord as faithful!

Pastor Doug

 

 

 

 

World Communion Sunday

October 5, 2014

“Sing praise to the Lord, you saints of His, and give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name. For His anger is but for a moment. His favor is for life; weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.” (Psalm 30:4, 5)

Today we celebrate and remember what Jesus did for us on the cross by sharing the meal He shared with His disciples in the Upper Room. Millions of Christians around the world will be doing the same thing as we are with slight variations of music, language and traditions. There is, however, a mystical union, communion that happens between the saints because of the Holy Spirit Who lives within each of us. I pray that God will use this time to stretch our thinking beyond our own little place in this world. I pray that we will be connected with the work of God around the world.

     “Now, in our local church or assembly, we know that we are not an end in ourselves. We want to see the church, the Body of Christ, as a whole. If we are going to be what we ought to be in the local church, we must come to think of ourselves as a part of something more expansive, something larger that God is doing throughout the entire world.

     “There is an important sense here in which we find that we ‘belong’- belonging to something that God has brought into being, something that is worthy and valuable, and something that is going to last forever.

     “We do not have to be ashamed as redeemed men and women that we desire to belong to the work that God is doing through the church….

     “We are thinking together here about the whole church, the Body of Christ, and the fact that in our local congregation we have the joyful sense of belonging to an amazing fellowship of the redeemed throughout the world.”    (Tozer, A. W.,

Tragedy in the Church: The Missing Gifts, pages 58, 59)

Let’s rejoice that God has honored us to be a part of His world-wide church!

I’m thankful to belong,

Pastor Doug

 

 

 

 

 

SUNDAY – SEPTEMBER 14, 2014

“Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. ‘The Lord is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘therefore I hope in Him!’” (Lamentations 3:22-24) Let’s rejoice and celebrate God’s goodness to us all!

 

It’s not all the hubbub of “new” buildings and changing to a “new” spot that we want to focus on. We want to set our hearts and minds on seeking an experience of the Lord’s real presence.  This will take effort on our part to fight off the natural distractions that surround us today. Mr. Tozer’s words will help to point us in the right direction.

 

     “I believe that it might be well for us if we just stopped all of our business and got quiet and worshiped God and waited on Him. It doesn’t make me popular when I remind you that we are a carnal bunch, but it is true, nevertheless, that the body of Christians is carnal. The Lord’s people ought to be a sanctified, pure, clean people, but we are a carnal crowd. We are carnal in our attitudes, in our tastes and carnal in many things. Our young people often are not reverent in our Christian services. We have so degraded our religious tastes that our Christian service is largely exhibitionism. We desperately need a divine visitation- for our situation will never be cured by sermons! It will never be cured until the Church of Christ has suddenly been confronted with what one man called the mysterium tremendium– the fearful mystery that is God, the fearful majesty that is God. This is what the Holy Spirit does. He brings the wonderful mystery that is God to us, and presents Him to the human spirit.”

 

I have written in another article that I have been visiting this “new” worship center to be alone and pray that God would visit us here in grace and power. Without His presence, this will be just another room. Let’s seek Him together as His church in this place!

 

Crying out to Jesus,

Pastor Doug

 

 

 

 

 

SUNDAY – SEPTEMBER 7, 2014

 “I will praise You, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing to You among the nations. For Your mercy reaches unto the heavens, and Your truth unto the clouds. Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let Your glory be above all the earth.” (Psalm 57:9-11) Our God is worthy to be praised and deserves our thanksgiving for all the benefits He has given to us.

 

This past Tuesday, our (the Elders and Deacons) devotional reading from A. W. Tozer was entitled A Purified Church.  Much of what Mr. Tozer pointed out about the “modern” church over a half-century ago remains true and relevant today.

 

     “Our most pressing obligation today is to do all in our power to obtain a revival that will result in a reformed, revitalized, purified church. It is of far greater importance that we have better Christians than that we have more of them. Each generation of Christians is the seed of the next, and degenerate seed is sure to produce a degenerate harvest not a little better than but a little worse than the seed from which it sprang. Thus the direction will be down until vigorous, effective means are taken to improve the seed….

     “To carry on these activities (evangelism, missions) scripturally the church should be walking in fullness of power, separated, purified and ready at any moment to give up everything, even life itself, for the greater glory of Christ. For a worldly, weak, decadent church to make converts is but to bring forth after her own kind and extend her weakness and decadence a bit further out….

     “So vitally important is spiritual quality that it is hardly too much to suggest that attempts to grow larger might well be suspended until we have become better.”

 

Our hearts cry out for our Lord to pour His Spirit upon us and revive our congregation! We do want to grow, but not at the expense of our Lord’s glory. We want Him to do His mighty work in our midst and produce fruit that will remain as a testimony of His great grace and power toward us all.

 

Praying for revival,

Pastor Doug

 

 

 

 

 

SUNDAY – AUGUST 24, 2014

Let’s come together to worship our God with the thoughts of Psalm 84 in our minds. “For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness. For the Lord is a sun and shield; the Lord will give grace and glory; no good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly. O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man who trusts in You!” (Vv. 10-12)

 

God’s people, Israel often turned from whole-hearted devotion to God. They not only turned to idolatry, but they would practice unrighteousness and immorality in their businesses and relationships with other people. God usually responded to their unfaithfulness with some form of discipline by using or allowing a foreign nation to put them into bondage. God used His prophets to warn His people as well as to offer them a message of hope and redemption. One of those wonderfully compelling messages was sent by God through the prophet, Isaiah. The message is one that we need to hear again in our day!

     “Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’ “If you take away the yoke from your midst (i.e. stop oppressing people), the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, if you extend your soul to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul, then your light shall dawn in the darkness, and your darkness shall be as the noonday. The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in drought, and strengthen your bones; you shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail. Those from among you shall build the old waste places; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; and you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach, the Restorer of Paths to Dwell In.” (Isaiah 58:9-12)

 

Let’s repent of all our wickedness and turn to the Lord. God will send forth His light upon us and even those in darkness will see it. We can be used by God to bring restoration to our land! Send a revival to Your people and heal our land!

 

Crying out to the Lord,

Pastor Doug

 

 

 

 

 

 SUNDAY – AUGUST 17, 2014

I will love You, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I will call upon the Lord who is worthy to be praised; so shall I be saved from my enemies.” Psalm 18:1-3

 

Today we welcome Kevin Robbins and his family to our fellowship. In response to the call of God, they are preparing to live in the country of Haiti and serve the pastors and people of Mission Par La Foi, a.k.a. Faith Mission. It is a great blessing for us to witness how God is working in their lives. Kevin is the third generation of Robbins who have been servants of the Lord.

 

It was a wonderful privilege for me to know Kevin’s grandfather and grandmother, Jack and Virginia Robbins. Jack and Virginia were missionaries that we supported for many years. I was fortunate to minister alongside Jack and Virginia on many occasions in the country of Haiti and here in the United States as well. Interestingly, Jack preached the dedication sermon for the building that we presently use for worship.

 

In addition to his grandparents, I have also known Kevin’s father, Tom Robbins. Many years ago, Tom was here at Needmore Bible Church for a weekend of special services during which he sang and preached.

 

I share all this to point simply to the Lord’s faithfulness. Throughout the Bible, there are promises that God would bless those who trust Him, as well as their children and children’s children. God wants to establish a heritage of our faith throughout succeeding generations. It is great joy to witness the fulfillment of His promises during our lifetimes.

 

“But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, and His righteousness to children’s children, to such as keep His covenant, and to those who remember His commandments to do them.” Psalm 103:17-18

 

Trusting His faithfulness,

Pastor Doug

 

 

 

 

 

 

SUNDAY – AUGUST 10, 2014

“As God pursues worship for Himself from all nations, He’s also seeking to save us from the emptiness of false worship. He loves us and desires to bring us to the only thing that can truly satisfy- Himself. His glory is the delight of nations, the source of our deepest satisfaction.

“You can see this revealed in Psalm 96:

“Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples!

For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; he is to be feared above all gods.

For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols, but the LORD made the heavens.

 

“Say among the nations, ‘The LORD reigns! Yes, the world is established;

 it shall never be moved; He will judge the people with equity.’

Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice….” (Psalm 96:3-5, 10-11)

-From page 25 of The Finishers by Roger Hershey and Jason Weimer

 

Why do we place so much emphasis on “missions”? Why do we pray for missionaries? Why do we give financial support to missionaries? Why do we go to other places and countries and work with people we haven’t known and might never see in this life again? The answer is the same to all the questions. It is because Jesus Christ is Lord of the whole universe and most certainly our lives! Here’s something Mr. A. W. Tozer wrote:

     “The resurrection of Jesus Christ is something more than making us the happiest people in the Easter parade. Are we to listen to a cantata, join in singing ‘Up from the Grave He Arose,’ smell the lilies and go home and forget it? No, certainly not!

     “The resurrection of Jesus Christ lays hole on us with all the authority of sovereign obligation. It says that the Christian church is to go and make disciples- to go and make disciples of all nations. The moral obligation of the resurrection of Christ is the missionary obligation- the responsibility and privilege of personally carrying the message, of interceding for those who go, of being involved financially in the cause of world evangelization.”  (From Tragedy in the Church.)

 

Committed to His cause,

Pastor Doug

 

 

 

 

 

SUNDAY – MAY 18, 2014

Let’s sing about our Lord, Jesus Christ as we will sing about Him in heaven. “You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals; for You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and have made us kings and priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth.” (Revelation 5:9, 10) Wow! What a great and tremendous day that will be when all God’s children will lift their voices as one to glorify and exalt the Lord. May our worship today be a small foretaste of that glory that is to come!

 

Would it be right to attempt to drive a nail with a saw? Would it be right to attempt painting a car with a hammer? The obvious answer is “no” to both questions. This should remind us that tools are best used when they are used for the function they are designed to accomplish. Actually this is a foundational truth in all areas of life and especially applies to the work of God. The church will function best when it is “being used” to do the work that it has been designed to do. While the church might demonstrate God’s love in this world through many different activities, yet there seems to be an activity of highest priority.

 

Robertson McQuilkin wrote the following in his book, The Five Smooth Stones. “Is it too much to say the evangelistic purpose of the church is paramount? I trust in the chapters that follow we may discover this to be an accurate biblical assessment of priority. In summary, we hold that position because redemption is the theme of Scripture and the meaning of Christ’s incarnation. God loved the world so much that He gave his only Son, and then his strategy was to commission all his other sons and daughters to complete the task he began at Calvary. All the other purposes of the church will be accomplished so much better in heaven, but this one can be accomplished only on earth! Thus I conclude this must be the paramount purpose of the church on earth. It is very sad that few congregations treat it that way.” (Page 112)

 

We might use tools for “work” that is not their specific assignment. We might attempt to use a knife as a screwdriver for example. Obviously a knife is best for cutting and a screwdriver is best for turning screws. Churches are best at telling the world that “Jesus alone saves!” Norman Lewis wrote, “A Christian unrelated to world evangelization is a pathetic and futile figure. His time is taken up with trifles. He is like a fish out of water. He is not in his true element.”

 

To the fields!

Pastor Doug

 

 

 

 

 

MOTHER’S DAY

MAY 11, 2014

Throughout eternity, God’s people will offer praise to God for all of His blessings, especially for His work of redeeming His people. We can practice that praise already! “Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy, and gathered out of the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south…Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men! For He satisfies the longing soul, and fills the hungry soul with goodness.” (Psalm 107:1-3, 8, 9)

 

The Bible records and declares that the love God has for us is greater than all other love known by mankind. It is certain that most of humanity realizes that “family love,” particularly parental love, is the highest or most “perfect” love expressed and known by the human race. Often God chose to use the example of this love to compare His own love for us. David wrote in Psalm 27, “When my father and my mother forsake me, than the Lord will take care of me.” (v.10) David is presenting an expression that indicates that God’s loving concern for us is “more permanent” than our parent’s love. Some of the most exciting words from God that address this idea are found in the Book of Isaiah.

“But Zion said, ‘The Lord has forsaken me, and my Lord has forgotten me.’  Can a woman forget her nursing child, and not have compassion on the son of her womb?  Surely they may forget, yet I will not forget you!”   (Is. 49: 14, 15)

 

God wants you to know that as highly as we might think of our own mother’s love for us His love is even higher and surer. Humans are not perfect and can sometimes fail us, even our mothers. God is perfect in all His ways and His love for us is as complete and eternal as He is. Today we celebrate the mothers that God has placed in our lives and their wonderful love for us. Yet more than our mothers’ love, we rejoice in the Love of our God and Savior!

 

Loved with a perfect love,

Pastor Doug

 

 

 

 

 

SUNDAY – MAY 4, 2014

It is a good thing to gather with God’s people for the purpose of worship. There are other places a person could choose to be, but there are none better than the fellowship of the saints in worship. “For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than to dwell in the tents of wickedness” (Psalm 84:10). Let’s rejoice in the goodness that we discover in The Lord’s presence.

 

Paul, the apostle wrote about how compelled he felt to preach the Gospel. “For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for necessity is laid upon me; yes, woe is me if I do not preach the gospel!” (I Corinthians 9:16) W. E. Sangster wrote about the same theme as it applies to all believers.

 

     “For people who do believe in the Christian God, evangelism is a duty and privilege so plain, so incontrovertible, that all talk of ‘relevance’ is a half-vulgar intrusion of the utilitarian in a realm where it cannot apply. One could as soon enquire of a son concerning the ‘relevance’ of his love for his mother, or a lover for the beloved, or a great scientist for his devotion to truth….(There are) things which soar above utilitarian tests and are right in themselves and not simply because of ends they serve.

     “The proclamation of the gospel is such a task. It is right in itself….The preaching of the gospel has never seemed relevant to unbelievers…. But it has to be proclaimed! Not apologized for, or watered down, or twisted in the interests of immediate relevance, or half-altered to suit the ‘time-spirit’ or disguised to get it past an unbeliever’s guard. It has to be preached- in all its seeming irrelevance; above the cat-calls and sneers of those who hate or despise it; in the face, also, of the amused contempt of those whose vanity leads them to feel superior to it. ‘I, if I be lifted up from the earth,’ said Christ, ‘will draw all men unto me.’

     “Let us life Him up, therefore! – in the atomic age, as in all others, and leave God to prove His relevance to those who will some day profit by our faith.”

 

The Church has the task of proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the whole world! Let’s do our part!

 

Looking on fields ready now for harvest,

Pastor Doug

 
 
 
 
 

 

EASTER SUNDAY

April 20, 2014

Welcome to this gathering of Resurrection-celebration! This is a place for the restoration of souls; where the weary, the hurting, and the discouraged can be healed and made new. The Living Christ will forgive, save and make whole! Welcome to this haven of abundant and eternal life.

 

One of the constant cries of the human heart is the desire for forgiveness. All of us have experienced the pangs of guilt at some time during our lives. There is something inside each person that whispers, “That was wrong.”  It is our conscience that God put within each of us which makes the experience of guilt universal. Mankind has worked hard to find ways to “get rid” of our feelings of guilt, but it seems that all of man’s best efforts have not been able to totally free the minds of people from a guilty conscience.

 

The hope of forgiveness has been recorded throughout the Bible. In Psalm 32:1, David declared, “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.” Isaiah, the prophet wrote, “’Come now, and let us reason together,’ says the Lord, ‘though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool.’” (Is. 1:18) All of this hope has been made a reality through the passion of Jesus Christ. Peter wrote, “Who Himself (

i.e. Jesus) bore our sins in His own body on the tree.” (See I Peter 2:24.) Paul preached at Antioch in Pisidia, “…He whom God raised up underwent no decay. Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through this Man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins.” (Acts 13:37, 38) Later, Paul wrote to the Romans, “It was for us, too, assuring us that God will also declare us to be righteous if we believe in God, who brought Jesus our Lord back from the dead. He was handed over to die because of our sins, and he was raised from the dead to make us right with God (i.e. provide our justification).” (Rom. 4:24, 25, NLT)

A present and wonderful blessing guaranteed by the resurrection is the forgiveness of our sin(s). The resurrection settles the fact that Christ’s death was sufficient for the penalty of our sin(s), and it also makes the freedom from our guilt and shame a present reality. That is justification, God looking at and treating us “just as if” we never sinned. Because Jesus lives, you and I can experience true forgiveness that gives peace to “guilty consciences.”

 

Forgiven,

Pastor Doug

 

 

 

 

PALM SUNDAY

APRIL 13, 2014

Welcome to the day that Christians around the world celebrate the Triumphal Entry of Jesus into the city of Jerusalem. This was the first day of the week in which Jesus Christ would go to Calvary bearing the cross to pay the penalty of our sins. Let’s enter this time of worship by thinking carefully about words from Psalm 118:24-29, some of which were quoted on that day by the multitudes hailing Jesus as The King.

“This is the day the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.

Save now, I pray, O Lord; O Lord, I pray, send now prosperity.

Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!

We have blessed You from the house of the Lord.

God is the Lord, and He has given us light;

bind the sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar.

You are my God, and I will praise You; You are my God, I will exalt You.

Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.”

 

We have heard the wonderful message of the salvation that Jesus Christ has provided for all who will receive it. He has accomplished the “work” that He was sent to do; He paid the debt of all sin so that you, I, and all people could be redeemed. Just think it was The King who did that “work!” Hallelujah!

This is “the light” that He has given to us and now we must respond to this knowledge. The words of Psalm 118 teach us at least three ways to respond. The first way is to “bind the sacrifice” to the altar. Every believer should “fix” their hope in God’s salvation and unashamedly declare to those around that they are trusting in nothing else but the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the Cross.

 

The second way is to utter words of praise that will exalt the name of our God and Savior. We should do this “all the time,” but certainly in the congregation of God’s people we must declare the “praises of Him who has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light.” The third is to offer audible words of thanksgiving for all that our God has done for us. We will never be able to exhaust the list of what we are thankful for.

 

Let’s worship The King!

Pastor Doug

 

 

 

 

 

SUNDAY – APRIL 6, 2014

Because gratitude fills our hearts, we gather to give thanks to the Lord for His boundless grace. “Praise the Lord! For it is good to sing praises to our God; for it is pleasant, and praise is beautiful….Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving; sing praises to our God.” (Psalm 147:1, 7) Let’s open our hearts to the joy of the Lord so that we might be strengthened to live for His glory.

 

 We are praying for a “move of God’s Spirit” in our church and communities. We know that there is a “work” that only God can do, something that we could never do in our human strength. We know that God will do that miraculous work of salvation when we pray and call on Him. Here is a reminder of this fact from Mr. Tozer as it is found in

Fellowship of the Burning Heart on pages 134 and 135.

 

     “Salvation can’t be taught. Salvation, among other things, brings an implantation of an unknown fact within the soul that impels us to holiness, and the true Christian cries out, ‘Abba Father,’ by an impulse of the Spirit. He doesn’t have to be taught, nobody says to the new Christian, now say, ‘Abba Father.’ He says it because the Spirit of the Son is in his heart compelling him to say it.

     “The biggest question before us is, has this happened to you? Have you received Him, believed on Him? Has He wrought in you that miracle, which impels you to want to do right, and that makes you grieve if you don’t? It’s most serious, my friends, that we ask the question and answer it. It’s most serious that we answer it in the affirmative, and be right about it. It would be a heartbreaking thing, or at least a very disheartening thing, if we are permitted to stand in front of the average church and be permitted to question each one that steps out and goes for his or her car: ‘Are you truly a Christian inside? By the miracle of the New Birth, do you have implanted in you that unknown factor, which God has named for us, His Laws? That makes you want to do righteousness, and hate sin, and love God and hate inequity. Are you yourself now this morning blessed with this inward factor that impels to holiness?’

     “If you could get an honest answer, it would be heartbreaking. Because there is no question about it, if all the people who go to churches in

our communities

had this unknown factor, this thing that impels them to righteousness, this would be a different city from what it is now, and Christianity would be quite some other thing than it is now in this town or any other town.”

 

Lord, pour out Your Spirit again!

Pastor Doug

 

 

 

 

 

SUNDAY – MARCH 30, 2014

We gather on this glorious day to remember the victory of our Lord over sin and death. Every time we gather, we do declare, “Christ the Lord is risen! He is risen, indeed!” This is the shout of victory for believers since that day when His tomb was found empty. Let’s rejoice as we are renewed by the same Spirit that raised Jesus Christ from the dead. (Romans 8:11)

 

There is a theme of Christian “perfection” that can be found throughout the New Testament, especially in Paul’s letters. During last Sunday’s sermon, the theme was introduced from Philippians, chapter three, verses twelve through sixteen. In the midst of this passage, Paul used terms like “prize” and “upward call” to define the experience of Christian perfection. These terms imply that “perfection” is something to be desired and pursued. Andrew Murray wrote a book entitled “Be Perfect,” and from it we learn that he also believed that “Christian perfection” is something that all believers should want to attain. He wrote:

     “Jesus said, ‘If any man will do,…he shall know.’ The same principle holds good in all human attainment. It is only he who has accepted in adoring submission and obedience the command ‘Be perfect,’ who can hope to know what the perfection is that God asks and gives. Until the Church is seen prostrate before God, seeking this blessing as her highest good, it will be no wonder if the very word perfection, instead of being an attraction and a joy, is a cause of apprehension and anxiety, of division and offense. ‘God, increase the number of those who, in childlike humility, take the word from Your own lips, as a living seed, in the assurance that it will bring forth much fruit.’”

 

The great hymn, Higher Ground, is a joyful declaration of a believer pursuing perfection. “I’m pressing on the upward way, new heights I’m gaining every day; still praying as I’m onward bound, ‘Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.’ …I want to live above the world, tho’ Satan’s darts at me are hurled; for faith has caught the joyful sound, the song of saints on higher ground.” Brothers and sisters, let’s press on to perfection! It is “higher ground!”

 

Pressing on,

Pastor Doug

 

 

 

 

 

SUNDAY – MARCH 23, 2014

     David wrote, “I give you thanks, O Lord, with all my heart; I will sing your praises before the gods. I bow before your holy Temple as I worship. I will give thanks to your name for your unfailing love and faithfulness, because your promises are backed by all the honor of your name. When I pray, you answer me; you encourage me by giving me the strength I need.” (Psalm 138:1-3) Let’s come before Him with the confidence that His past blessings have given to our hearts. We can count on God!

Many of us have been more intentional in our prayers these past 18 days or so, as we have been participating in “Seek God for the City.” Many of us have been moved by God to pray for His Spirit to bring revival to the churches of our communities. We have been given a feeling of expectation and an excitement about knowing that God is going to do something out of the ordinary. Hope has been rising within us, and we know that our hope will “not disappoint” us. (See Romans 5:5.)

God gave a promise to the scattered nation of Israel during the Babylonian captivity.  It was a promise of restoration as a nation, not only geopolitically but especially spiritually and socially. We could use the same promise of spiritual and social restoration today! In fact, we are praying for God to do it again for His people in our time. He declared through Isaiah, “Arise, and shine! Let your light shine for all the nations to see! For the glory of the Lord is shining upon you. Darkness as black as night will cover all the nations of the earth, but the glory of the Lord will shine over you. All nations will come to your light. Mighty kings will come to see your radiance.

     “Look and see, for everyone is coming home! Your sons are coming from distant lands; your little daughters will be carried home. Your eyes will shine, and your hearts will thrill with joy, for merchants from around the world will come to you….

     “Though you were once despised and hated and rebuffed by all, you will be beautiful forever. You will be a joy to all generations, for I will make you so.” (Isaiah 60:1-5a, 15, NLT)

Think about what some of these promises mean. Think about what miraculous changes will take place when God answers our prayer for His glory to shine on us once again. Think about our “sons” and “daughters” coming home! Wow. That alone will be a great blessing!

 

Let’s keep on praying and believing.

Pastor Doug

 

 

 

 

 

SUNDAY – MARCH 16, 2014

The Psalmist wrote that the “heavens will praise Your wonders, O Lord,” and His “faithfulness also in the assembly of the saints” would be declared. (See Psalm 89:5.) Then he wrote, “Blessed are the people who know the joyful sound! They walk, O Lord, in the light of Your countenance. In Your name they rejoice all day long.” (Ps. 89:15-16a) The atmosphere of praise and worship is beneficial and will impart strength and joy to those who enter it.

 

Throughout the Bible there is a call for God’s people to “dwell together in unity.” (See Psalm 133.) As we look at the message that Paul sent to the church at Philippi, we see another call for believers to live in harmony and unity. Paul wrote, “Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from His love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and sympathetic? Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one heart and purpose.” (Philippians 2:1-2, NLT) Paul was already thankful and rejoicing over the Philippian church (Philippians 1:3-5), but he believed that he would be “happier” if they expressed greater unity. The good news is that greater unity is possible, not through human effort alone but through the supply and work of the Holy Spirit.

 

The “if” in verse 1 is not the “if” of doubt. It is used as part of an argument and assumes that the answer to each “if-question” is an affirmative. It might be better paraphrased as William MacDonald has written, “

Since there is so much encouragement in Christ, since His love has such a tremendous persuasiveness, since the Holy Spirit brings us all together in such a wonderful fellowship, and since there is so much tender affection and mercy in Christianity, we should all be able to get along in happy harmony with one another.” Unity, that is, real spiritual unity, is the logical outcome of people being called together by Jesus Christ.

 

Through common devotion to Christ and common possession of the Holy Spirit, we can have unity of purpose, affection, and sympathy. We are one in the Spirit; we are one in the Lord!

 

They’ll know we are Christians by our love,

Pastor Doug

 

 

 

 

 

SUNDAY – MARCH 9, 2014

With gratitude, we gather to give thanks to the Lord for His boundless grace. “Praise the Lord! For it is good to sing praises to our God; for it is pleasant, and praise is beautiful….Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving; sing praises on the harp to our God.” (Psalm 147:1, 7) Let’s open our hearts to the joy of the Lord so that we might be strengthened to live for His glory.

Recently a popular expression about things that a person wants to accomplish before he dies has become part of our language. People talk about their “bucket list” which frequently contains activities like skydiving, driving a racecar, visiting some exotic island, and many other out-of-the-ordinary items. Sometimes people just simply say, “That’s a bucket item.” People are reminded of human mortality almost every day and it forces them to think about what they would like to get done before they die.

 

How should believers, Christians think about the brevity of life and what they should attempt to accomplish before they die? Every believer needs to realize that they will not “cease to exist,” but they merely change their locations. Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25) We also need to be reminded that we will spend a thousand years on this earth with the Lord Jesus Christ while He rules and reigns over the whole world. The details of the activities during those 1,000 years is not totally clear, but it is certain that believers will be here with Jesus and we will be able to “see” many things that we haven’t seen before we physically died. We must stop thinking that physical death is totally final, the end and we better “check off our ‘bucket’ items” before we die. That’s the way the world thinks because they have no hope.

 

More importantly, believers must choose to do the one thing we will not be able to do after we die. We must be busy “doing our Father’s business” of telling the lost the way of salvation. It is only now, while we are living this life, that we can share the Gospel and win souls for heaven. The Christian’s “bucket list” should be the names of lost individuals that can be told the Gospel!

 

Seeking the lost,

Pastor Doug

 

 

 

 

 

SUNDAY – MARCH 2, 2014

 We have gathered to “set our minds on the Spirit, which is life and peace.” (See Romans 8:6b.) We can prepare for this time (and every time of worship) by praying this simple prayer: “If there is any hardness in our hearts today, Lord, please remove it. We want to be ready to receive Your Word and Your grace that will enable us to live in the Light. Amen.”

 

All Christians should realize the centrality of prayer in the life of the church. It is recorded that the church began their activity in a “prayer meeting.” In Acts 1:14 it is written, “These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication.” After the burst of life and power that happened on the Day of Pentecost, the believers began to minister to the city that surrounded them. This ministry caused a great deal of backlash from those who opposed them. Their response to the opposition was a “prayer meeting.” “So when they heard that, they raised their voice to God with one accord and said: ‘Lord, You are God, who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them.” (Acts 4:24) “And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the Word of God with boldness.” (Acts 4:31) Prayer was the essential activity that empowered and fitted the church to accomplish great things for the advance of the Kingdom of God.

 

Revival. Renewal. Transformation. Holiness.

These are words that express our vision and goal for the churches in our communities. We believe that we will see God produce all of these when we actually pray with one another. We are not interested in “just another program” that clutters our already busy schedule. We do not want to waste out time doing something that will not produce any real and lasting change in our world. We have seen far too much religious activity with no results. We believe that God is calling us (believers, Christians, brothers and sisters in Christ) back to the centrality of corporate, shared prayer.

 

Join many other believers by following the guide available to us for prayer during the 40 days of Lent, from Wednesday, March 5 to Palm Sunday, April 13. The booklet is titled Seek GOD for the CITY 2014 and is free to you if you plan to participate. Pray every day and also join us for the Saturday morning prayer walks that are scheduled throughout our communities. Let’s watch what God will do in response to our prayers!

 

Seeking God,

Pastor Doug

 

 
 
 
 
 

SUNDAY – FEBRUARY 23, 20014

Welcome to this gathering of believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. Under His orders, we try to be many things: a haven of rest and renewal for the heavy-hearted and burdened; a place of forgiveness for the guilty and shamed; a source of encouragement for the discouraged; an empowering fellowship for all who want to live godly lives for the Lord Jesus Christ and His glory. Join us in our journey of faith and growth in grace.

There are few experiences on earth that are much worse than attending a “dead” and “lifeless” church service. It is not our desire to create an “amusement-park” or “entertainment” type atmosphere at Needmore Bible Church, but we do expect to have an “experience” that is joyful and rewarding for all who come into our fellowship. We want people to encounter the real, manifest Presence of our living God. We expect that such an encounter could be a little uncomfortable for some, but it might also be invigorating to most. We want God to “pour out” the fire of the Holy Spirit upon us.

Author James S. Stewart wrote, “There is a Scottish paraphrase which declares that when the Holy Spirit comes He does two things, not one:  Your minds shall fill with sacred truth,  Your hearts with sacred fire.

Sometimes the Church has been so keen about the first, the quest of sacred truth, that it has rather tended to play down the second, the sacred fire of love. And when that happens, you are bound to get a Church inhibited and crippled, lacking verve and glow and warmth and spontaneity. ‘I baptize you with water,’ declared John the Baptist, ‘but He shall baptize you with fire.’ ‘Let you religion,’ cried G. K. Chesterton impatiently, ‘be less of a theory and more of a love affair!’ There was a day when Reverend Stanton, in his pulpit of St. Alban’s, Holborn, suddenly cried ‘Fire! Fire!- and then when the congregation was beginning to panic, he went on. ‘Everywhere, everywhere- except in the Church!’ Do let us remember that what the gospel gives is not a problem but a Person; not an –ism or an –ology, but the Word made flesh; not a metaphysic but a master-passion, a living Lord to love and be loved by forever.”

Oh, Lord, send the fire! Fill our hearts with Your love!

Pastor Doug

 

 

 

 

 

SUNDAY – FEBRUARY 16, 2014

God has given wonderful promises to His people about the redemption/salvation that He is going to ultimately bring to them. In Jeremiah we read, “Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance. And the young men and the old, together; for I will turn their mourning to joy, will comfort them, and make them rejoice rather than sorrow. I will fill the soul of the priests with abundance, and my people shall be satisfied with My goodness, says the Lord.” We look forward to a great Day of Salvation!

Recent days have caused many people to think on the subject of love. There is a great amount of interest in love since all of us really do enjoy being loved in some manner or another. Well of course, one great declaration of the Bible is that the very nature of our Creator God is love. Because of this nature of the One who gives us “breath and life,” we can experience love as we should. “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.” (I John 4:7, 8) Love is an essential part of our relationship with God, and the good news is “…not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” (I John 4:10) Love brings us into relationship with God, and then once we are in that relationship, His love becomes part of our faith experience.

The “fruit” or “product” of our relationship with God is that we love other people who live around us. “If someone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.” (I John 4:20, 21) The love that God has for us and which He has expressed toward us and in us must have an outlet. It is impossible for us to “experience” God’s love without a “flow” of it through us. God’s love just doesn’t operate as a “pool” or “pond;” it only operates as a “stream” or “river.” We must open the “floodgates” and allow God’s love to flow through us. Oh, what a wonderful manifestation of God’s love we will all enjoy when we turn and show His love to others!

Loved with an everlasting love,

Pastor Doug

 

 

 

 

 

 

SUNDAY – FEBRUARY 9, 2014

Last Sunday, Brother Dan played and sang a composition that he wrote of Psalm 34. It’s a great way to call all us to a time of worship.”I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make its boast in the Lord; the humble shall hear of it and be glad. Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together.” (Vs. 1-3)

Just what can we expect God to do in and through His people, the Church? Should we accept a “cooled off” and “watered down” version of the church that we read about in the Book of Acts? I agree with A. W. Tozer and take my stand with him. Here are his words from An Assembly of Saints: Love Unity in the Spirit,” taken from Tragedy in the Church:The Missing Gifts.

     “Brethren, we fellowship here and mingle together and worship the Lord Christ as an assembly of the saints. We confess that all the privileges and responsibilities rest upon us that once rested upon those believers at Pentecost. The plan and promises of God for His believing children have not diminished one little bit.

     “Nowhere in the Word of God is there any text or passage or line that can be twisted or tortured into teaching that the organic living church of Jesus Christ just prior to His return will not have every right and every power and every obligation that she knew in that early part of the book of Acts.

     “I am determined that we are not going to give up to the kind of times in which we live! There is such a thing as just getting tough about this, my brethren. There is such a thing as saying in the power of the Spirit, ‘I am not yielding and I will not give up to the times!’ This is something we can say to our Lord and to ourselves, and betimes, maybe, over our shoulder to the devil!

     “The faithful Body of Christ is not going to give up to the ways of the world or even to the more common ways of religion that we see all about us.” (p. 66)

As the Holy Spirit infuses God’s enabling power into our individual lives and into our fellowship, we can expect to see God work in miraculous and wonderful ways. Let’s allow Him to make us into the church He wants us to be!

I love the Church,

Pastor Doug

 

 

 

 

 

 

SUNDAY – FEBRUARY 2, 2014

There is a passion in the hearts of those who know God, and it causes them to want to come to “church” and to encourage others to join them. The Psalmist expressed it this way: “Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men! Let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare His works with rejoicing.” (Ps. 107:21, 22) God is good to all people! Let’s pray that all of our eyes will be open to see His wonderful works!

I can assure you that the men whom God has led to be appointed as the leadership of this congregation have one great desire. We all want to be “in line” with the will of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Head of His Body, the church. We want to “push when He pushes” and “pull when He pulls.” We are in agreement with A. W. Tozer on this point when he wrote the following in “An Assembly of Saints: Love Unity in the Spirit” in his book, Tragedy in the Church: The Missing Gifts.

     “What a powerful message from the prophet to our own day. The curse of modern Christian leadership is the pattern of looking around and taking our spiritual bearing from what we see, rather than from what the Lord has said.

     “But what are we prone to do in church leadership? We are likely to listen carefully to see which way things are moving and then act accordingly. But the Spirit of God will never lead us into that mistake.

     “Led by the Spirit of God, the members of the Body of Christ will always be right in their spirit, right in their wisdom, and right in their judgment. They will not be judged nor will they allow themselves to be judged on the basis of what is currently taking place all around them.

     I believe God wants to do something new and blessed for every believer who has the inner desire to know Him better. I am aware of the fact that it takes a store of patience and persistence and a lot of courage to find and pursue the will of God in this day. There has been a reviving within the ranks of our own fellowship, and I see no reason why it should not flow out and down and over and up and around until we are all swimming in it.” (pp. 65-66)

We desperately want us all to be “swimming in it!” We hunger for the church to be totally in tune with her Master! We are expecting another outpouring of His Spirit on our fellowship!

I love the church,

Pastor Doug

 

 

 

 

 

SUNDAY – JANUARY 26, 2014

  The psalmist, David declared, “Behold how good and how pleasant it is for the brethren to dwell together in unity!” (Psalm 133:1) He went on to describe that place of special fellowship as the place where “the Lord commands the blessing- life evermore.” (See verse 3.) Jesus came into this world to make abundant life available to us all! As we fix our attention and faith on Him, let’s open out hearts to receive the blessing He has for us today!

 Certainly we are “pressing on” in order to become the church that God wants us to become. Mr. Tozer challenges us with thoughts from “An Assembly of Saints: Love Unity in the Spirit” in his book, Tragedy in the Church: The Missing Gifts.

     “No congregation or church group has the right to feel that it has finally arrived and is fully matured. Every congregation with a true desire for the knowledge of God must continually seek and reach out- determining its own needs and what it should be to be well pleasing to the Lord.

     “Any assembly of the saints must continue in the study of the Bible to determine what the Holy Spirit wants to do in the life of the church and how the Spirit will provide the power and special abilities to glorify Jesus Christ.

     “Let me here refer to words of the prophet Isaiah which I love very much. They are in Isaiah chapter 11: ‘And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: and the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord; and shall make him of quick understanding in the  fear of the Lord; and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: but with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth’ (vv. 1-4a).

     “Now as you well know all of that was spoken by the prophet concerning Jesus, the One who was to come to Israel.

     “But don’t you think that description of spiritual life and ministry also should be true of all who are members of the Body of Christ?

     “Just as in the Old Testament when the oil of anointing was poured out on the high priest’s head and ran down to the skirt of his garment and on down to his feet, giving fragrance and sweetness to his whole body, so the mighty power that was poured upon the head of Jesus must flow and trickle down to every member of the body. What was true of Him, our Lord, can just as surely be true of those who minister His grace and truth.” (Pages 54-65.)

Let our cry be for an outpouring of His Spirit to give us a fresh anointing of understanding, wisdom and power!

Pastor Doug

 
 
 
 
 
 

 

SUNDAY – JANUARY 19, 2014

A wonderful invitation is given to each one of us as we gather to worship our Creator. “Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, and He will have mercy on him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.” (Isaiah 55:6, 7) This is a time for changing and taking a “new direction” in our lives. God will help us in spite of all our wrong directions in the past. In mercy and with pardon, He will lead us in right paths! Hallelujah!

I believe the church is the greatest group of people on the earth (and in heaven). Mr. A. W. Tozer also had a very high regard for the church and wrote about it in Tragedy in the Church: The Missing Gifts.  I plan to share portions of a chapter entitled “An Assembly of Saints: Love Unity in the Spirit” over the next few weeks.  I pray that you will be challenged and inspired by what you read here.

     “I know that there are people who attend churches where there is never any appeal or desire to engage in effectual prayer for others. They can tell you the name of their church and when it was organized and what part it plays in the ‘religious community.’

     “That’s not enough. Strictly speaking, you cannot bring a true segment of the Body of Christ into being by organizing.

     “Now I don’t want to be misquoted. I believe that within our Christian fellowship and in our efforts to evangelize there must of necessity be some proper organization freely exercised. Paul himself must have had this in mind as he wrote to Titus and told him to set things in order and to appoint men to tasks within the fellowship.

     “But I am saying that you cannot organize a Christian church in the same way that you would organize a baseball club. In baseball you need a captain, so many pitchers and so many catchers, outfielders and infielders and a number of coaches.

     “You can have an organized ball club with the right number of players and coaches and still not have a ball club, as a certain Chicago team has proven!  (Tozer pastored an Alliance congregation in Chicago for many years.)

    

“No, you cannot organize a true Christian church in that sense. Even after the adoption of a proper church constitution there may not actually be a New Testament church. Perhaps the church is within that organization- it is possible- but that organization is not the church, for the church is the assembly of the saints!”
 

More next week about how we might be sure to have “the church” within our organization.

I love the church,

Pastor Doug

 

 

 

 

 

SUNDAY – JANUARY 12, 2014

We come together to seek and experience the holy Presence of our Lord. We do this in the manner described by the writer of the book to Hebrews, chapter 10, and verses 19 through 22. “Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” We rejoice in the grace of God that makes it possible for us to come before Him in worship and praise!

One basic characteristic of sin is its tendency to separate. The fact is that sin separates us first from God, and then from one another coincidently.  It is probable that wherever separation is observed, sin can be found at the root of it. This nature is totally contrary to the heart of God Who “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (I Timothy 2:4) God so loved everybody (the world) that He made it possible for everybody to believe and not perish. (John 3:16) The term that describes the process of removing separation is known as “reconciliation.” Paul wrote, “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us (believers, followers of Jesus) the word of reconciliation.” (II Corinthians 5:19) God has acted to eliminate the separation caused by sin and to make it possible for all people to be a part of His family.  The church is called to be an instrument of God in “bringing in” those who have been “cast out,” disenfranchised, and separated from His people. God’s great promise has been…”even to them (the outcasts) I will give in My house and within My walls a place and a name better than that of sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off.” (Isaiah 56:5) We are called by the Lord Jesus to be reconciled to God and to one another. Let’s pray that God will use us to spread the word of reconciliation and build a fellowship at NBC that “fleshes out,” that manifests that reconciliation. Let’s pray and work to eliminate separation that does not reflect God’s love.
 

Reconciled by the blood of Jesus,

Pastor Doug

 

 

 

 

 

SUNDAY – JANUARY 5, 2014 

It is a good thing to gather with God’s people for the purpose of worship. There are other places a person could choose to be, but there are none better. “For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than to dwell in the tents of wickedness” (Psalm 84:10). Let’s rejoice in the good that we will discover in The Lord’s presence.

Throughout the Bible, there is a message that forgiveness and cleansing of sin comes through a blood sacrifice. From Genesis to Revelation, it is possible to find some mention of blood that can take away sin from our lives. Of course, the pinnacle of the story is reached when Jesus Christ is crucified and His blood is there “poured out” for the sins of the world. The Bible reveals that His blood has eternal power to “cover sin” and make a sinner able to stand forgiven in the presence of Almighty God. The power of His blood is “living” and ready to wash away sin at any present time. It is recorded in I John 1:7, “…and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.”

Frances Ridley Havergal wrote about I John 1:7 the following: “And so we may trust Him to cleanse us from all present defilement. Yes, all. If not, we take away from His most precious promise, and, by refusing to take it to its fullness, lose the fullness of its application and power. Then we limit God’s power to keep. We look at our frailty more than at His omnipotence.

     “Where is the line to be drawn beyond which He is not able? The very keeping implies total helplessness without it, and the very cleansing most distinctly defilement without it. It was the word ‘cleanseth’ which opened the door of glory and hope and joy to me.

     “I had never seen the force of the tense before, a continual present, always present tense, not a present which the next moment becomes a past. It goes on cleansing.

     “I have no words to tell how my heart rejoiced in it. Not a coming to be cleansed in the fountain only- but a remaining in the fountain so that it may go on cleansing.

     “One of the intensest moments of my life was when I saw the force of the word ‘cleanseth.’ The utterly unexpected and altogether unimagined sense of its fulfillment to me on simply believing in its fullness was indescribable. I expected nothing like it short of heaven.”

Let’s rejoice in the power of our Lord Jesus’ blood to keep us clean until we leave this sin-soaked world!

Washed in His blood,

Pastor Doug