Pleasant Grove Baptist Church March 30, 2019 at 04:38AM

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via IFTTT Stephen, full of Grace and Holy Spirit, and first to die for Christ. Success is not always what we think. Stephen succeeded, and his success was realized in his being appointed the first maryter after Jesus. He stood for righteousness, he spoke truth, he walked daily in the spirit of Christ. He performed great miracles by the name of Jesus. But... He was not an apostle. Not even a church "leader". Stephen was appointed to the position of church welfare distribution. We often think of the apostles, and how they gave their all for Christ. How they spent those years as witnesses and companions of Christ, wrote much of the New testament, and brought the world the name of Jesus. But Stephen was the first to make a truly significant impact, he gave his life for Christ. He lived holy, which made him a target, and then he accepted death as his reward. The lesson here? There are so many. But one in particular shines through loud and clear: It is not the job of "the church" organization to change the world. It is the job of God's people in the church to change the world! The church, the preachers, teachers, pastors, etc, are there to equip the people to be successful in changing the world. Stephen was not one of the church authority, he was just a normal guy. But he accepted the call to live for Christ and walked in the Holy Spirit. He spoke Christ in his daily life, he contended for the faith. He made a great impact because he lived his talk. And satan made him the first target because of it. Stephen was, as we say, "on the front lines" in this epic battle between good and evil. He went out and spoke to the people, he tore down the strongholds of satan. He attacked the gates of hell. And yes, he was a member of the church, he worshipped with the church, he helped out where he could (waiting tables) but Stephens life, his success, was outside the walls of the organization. You see, the sealing power for success is not a position of authority from the church or seminary. The sealing power, what makes one successful and capable, what brings one to change the world, is the Holy Spirit and a willing heart. Are you willing? Will you take up the call that Stephen walked in? Will you change the world for Christ? It starts on your knees. It starts with the Holy Spirit filling every ounce of your being, it starts with dieing to yourself ( wants, desires, plans, goals) and living daily for Christ. It starts in prayer and Bible reading, in crying out to God alone, in your room seeking God. If your knees are not sore, you have not done it God's way! Man and satan always offer a substitute. School, organization, credentials, programs, so many substitutes. But success is found one on one, alone with God, seeking Him, giving all to Him, surrendering our will, our future to Him. That is the beginning of a powerful ministry, being full of Grace and the Holy Spirit. You can follow Stephen's example. You don't need money, training, a name, a paper, none of that. What you need is Jesus, and a broken contrite heart. You need the power and wisdom of the Holy Spirit daily working through your personal life. Yes, Stephen was the first to die for Christ. Will you be the next?

Pleasant Grove Baptist Church March 28, 2019 at 03:45AM

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via IFTTT Every job in the church is important! Consider this scenario. The apostles need help, they are overwhelmed with the size of the growing church so that the physical needs of the people, the serving of food to the needy, has become too much to handle. They found themselves so busy with this that they didn't have time for anything else. So they needed to bring on board some help. A decidedly "lower" job in today's view. But look how they proceeded. First, choose the best, mature, reputable, spirit filled men. Not just anyone, not hired help, not new converts. They sought out those who stood out as examples of Jesus. Second, they prayed over this group, laying hands on them to empower and bless them to accomplish the task at hand. Waiting tables. Yes, all that just to serve food! Every position in the church is important and by this example should only be filled with those upright, reputable, mature, and spirit filled. Everyone, not just the preacher, not just the deacons, everyone. One reason is this. Everything in life is important to God. How we live, what we eat, how we dress, what we do with our time, how we keep our house, how we talk, how we treat neighbors, everything. This is especially true when we are in some way "connected" to God's mission and church. Any position of service in the church brings with it a responsibility to represent Christ. Every little thing in life is a reflection on who we live for, how we serve our God. So often churches fall because they concentrate on the "top", the preacher or elders. But in reality what the people see, experience, and deal with the most are the rest of the organization. The secretaries, the ushers, the groundskeeper, the staff. Those who do the "stuff of life". The maturity and reputation of these people is important! It would be wise to show this level of importance and concern today over every position within the church. If we commit to follow scripture, here is a direct example of how to operate the day to day business. Every calling, every position is important as a representative of Christ. We should treat them as such

Pleasant Grove Baptist Church March 21, 2019 at 03:30AM

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via IFTTT Born into 40 years of misery, for the glory of God. Are you willing? Consider this man. 40 years old, his life as a lowly begger unable to walk or work. Unable to have a family, unable to care for himself because of his physical deformity. Every day spent sitting at the mercy of others for a speck of bread, no hope for the future. What a sad existence, right? NO! How selfish are we to say so! This man was mightily used of God, blessed and honored. His story is written into two chapters of the Bible, surviving 2000 years! His story has provided encouragement to millions, even billions of people worldwide. And all he had to do was to spend the first half of his life as a begger. Man is so incredibly selfish, we seek the miracle without the pain of a need for a miracle. How is that? How can we have an amazing testimony of rescue without a need for miraculous rescue? How do we feel pleasure without the capacity to feel pain? This man was born for the moment that he rose by the name of Jesus. Was it worth it? Would you volunteer to be like him? Abraham received a mighty promise, that a nation would be built of his offspring, a nation that would bless the world and mankind like no other. A nation that gave birth to our saviour , finally correcting the mistake of Adam in the garden. BUT, God proclaimed that this nation would first spend 400 years as slaves in a foreign land, mercilessly oppressed and beaten. Wait, what? Slaves for 400 years? Who is going to sign up for that? Who is willing to say "thy will he done, not mine" if it means a life of harsh slavery? Who? A true follower of Christ,, that's who. If we are not willing to be the slave, we are not worthy of walking into the promised Land. I know, this is hard teaching. We don't want to be slaves. Jesus came to set us free, to bring peace and love and success to all. Did He? Not exactly. He came to pay for our sins so that we may be free from the bondage of sin, and DIE to self, be persecuted by the world, be spit on, ridiculed, attacked, even killed for standing for truth. The Christian Life is one of incredible inward peace and joy during unspeakable outward attacks and misery. Sometimes our place, our call from God is to be the slave for 400 years, the lame begger for 40 years. Are we to say " no, not me Lord"? This man was mightily blessed to be born lame for 40 years and then healed in the right moment as a testament to Jesus' resurrection. Every Jewish slave in Egypt was mightily blessed to be working out God's plan for His new nation. This may seem foreign to our way of thinking, but not God's. "In everything give thanks" means... Yes... Everything. Slave or free. Lame or whole. Give thanks and find peace in knowing we are living God's will for us. Perhaps there is a day of release for us, perhaps a day of healing, or perhaps not. God is still god and worthy to be praised regardless of our circumstances. So give thanks, while in your situation, good or bad. Because all things are good when you serve the living God. All things. Not just the pleasant ones, but the harsh ones too. All. Give thanks, and trust. God is sovereign. He knows what He is doing.

Pleasant Grove Baptist Church March 18, 2019 at 03:15AM

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via IFTTT Recognized as having been with Jesus. Wow! Now that is credentials! Even those these guys were but lowly fishermen, never been to college, likely never finished school, worked a lowly manual labor job, these men were paid the highest compliment possible. Their behaviour, speech, persona spoke Jesus. They were clearly followers of Christ. No, they didn't have a tshirt with a catchy saying on it, no membership card, no official representation. What they possessed was much more evident, much more valuable. They acted like Jesus! They spoke like Jesus! They reasoned like Jesus! And they healed the sick, just like Jesus. The evidence was within them, around them, like the rays of a hot summer sun. They lived Jesus. This is the gospel! This is the good news! The lowest, least capable, least worthy can live like Jesus to such an extent that when others look at you, they see only Jesus. What does the world see when they look at you? Consider that. Are you different? Do people see you and proclaim "he has been with Jesus!" If not, why not? What are you waiting for? What else can be done to make you like Jesus? Peter and John had no schooling, no training, no licensing, no endorsement. All they had was a few years of Jesus presence and words followed by the gift of the Holy Ghost. That's it! You have the very same things. You have the same scriptures they had. You read the same wisdom, miracles, teaching. You have the same spirit available to you. Nothing has changed! So ask yourself, what do people see when they look at you? Do they see you, or Jesus? As a Christian, as a follower of Christ, we are declared dead. Dead to our own life, dead to our own ambitions, dead to our own credentials. And alive to Christ. How then, can the world see us? We are dead and buried! This is the essence of the Christian Life. We are called to die to self, and live for Christ. We exemplify that in our normal life, every minute of every day. Not on Sundays, but the rest of the week, when real life happens. Where did you take Jesus this week? Where did He take you? What did the people around you say? If the answers are not the same as for Peter and John here, repent! Turn to Jesus and ask forgiveness for hiding Him and showing yourself instead. Repent of caring about yourself more than others. Repent of wasting a day of life, a portion of the few moments granted us. Repent and start living for Jesus 24x7. Stop justifying your actions and just give it all to God. And spend today, whatever time you have left, shining Jesus everywhere He leads.

Pleasant Grove Baptist Church March 12, 2019 at 03:50AM

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via IFTTT What I do have, I give to you. What do YOU have to give? Are you clothed with power from on high? Do you walk in the power and authority of Christ in Earth? Do you represent Christ to a hurting and dieing world, freely giving what you have received? If not, why not? This is the Gospel! Jesus did not die and rise so that you could go to church to hear pleasant speeches. He did not die so that you could have a nice social club. He did not die so that you could use man's wisdom to seek success. None of that useless stuff. Jesus died and rose so that YOU could walk in His authority on Earth in His name. The gospel is about living for Jesus, like Jesus. The Christian Life is about power, holiness, example, giving. It's about being real. Peter walked in the same authority that Jesus did, and that exact same authority is the expectation for each and every follower of Christ. Even you! Jesus said we would heal the sick, cast out demons, etc etc. Did He lie? Did He exaggerate? Of course not! If Jesus had exaggerated, that would be sin and we have no saviour at all. Either Jesus was perfect as a sacrifice or we have no sacrifice. So when He said that we, you and I, would do greater things than He did, it must be real! But how? Step one is being clothed with power from on high. You can not give what you do not possess. Scripturally this happened at Pentecost first, and thereafter with water baptism as each believer was baptised and subsequently filled with fire and the holy ghost. Step two is faith. You can not give what you do not offer. It is an act of will and faith to exercise authority of Christ. You must DO something. You must give, speak, act. This is not passive, but active. This is not taking in, but giving out. Step three is living Holy. You must walk in a manner representative of Christ. One cannot live like the devil and hope to exercise the power of a holy God. One cannot remain clean when they play in the dirt. Our lives must be about dieing to all selfish desires, all selfish ambition, all pleasure and convenience. Our lives must become about serving God and others first, about sacrifice through obedience. About seeking God's way in every situation, every day. Then, we can give what we have as peter did. Then we are living right with God. Then we are "working out our salvation with fear and trembling". First receive, then give and live.

Pleasant Grove Baptist Church March 07, 2019 at 03:32AM

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via IFTTT Speaking with other tongues. A fabulous miracle. Here we have a group of believers, including the apostles, gathered waiting on God. When God showed up, and poured His Holy Spirit into the people there, filling them with the very presence of God Himself, a miracle happened. They people filled with the Spirit began to speak to others. But they spoke in a variety of languages which they had not known. The foreigners heard their own native tongues spoken fluently by these men of Israel. An impossible task for man alone. Some say this is a reversal of the tower of Babel. And sure, there are aspects of that. But the message here goes deeper, broader. These listeners did not hear them speak a single language. God has not "reversed" the division of language which He caused at Babel. No, not reverse, but overcome. God gave to power to "preach the gospel to the ends of the Earth" by granting the ability to speak to people in their own language. But not just language. That was the outward sign and miracle. But deeper than this was the ability to speak to people's inner being. Their heart. Speak to them "in their own language". We all have walls built around us. Walls that keep us "safe" but also isolate us from truth. We resist that which is difficult, that which hurts, that which calls for brokenness and repentance. We resist by hiding behind our wall. The holy spirit grants the saints this ability to speak directly to the language of the heart, past the wall. To reach a hurting soul. The Holy Spirit speaks the language of the individual, so that they can hear and understand. Jesus called the Holy Spirit a "teacher". "Leading us in all truth". By walking in the spirit, by speaking by the spirit, we speak truth to the heart walled up and hurting inside. It is not "counseling" although counselors certainly could be led of the spirit. It is not "training" or "education" that these men of Israel relied upon. They spoke by the spirit of God. This ability to speak in "tongues" can be manifested in various ways, just as a hammer can be used in a variety of ways for specific tasks. But it represent the ability to speak to anyone, anywhere, of any background, of any language, of any culture, of any past, and speak to their heart. To speak truth. To achieve brokenness and peace. This is the greatest miracle here.... Not that they spoke in languages they did not know, but that they spoke truth in a way that each listener could grasp and respond. This is the anointing of the Holy Spirit. And it is available to all saints, not just preachers. Anyone seeking God is commanded to wait for Holy Spirit power before trying to reach the world. Do you walk in the anointing of Christ, the filling of the tongues of fire? If not... Seek God. He will show you the path to this great blessing. But count the cost! Only when you are willing to "take up your cross", " die to self", "become broken and humble" will the Holy Spirit move through you. Pentecost brought the power that Jesus walked in to man, to those repentant, washed in Jesus blood, and willing to live for Christ no matter the cost. He calls you now, will you wait for power from on high?

Pleasant Grove Baptist Church March 06, 2019 at 03:33AM

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via IFTTT Take every thought captive. Man is a three part being, just like God. Body, soul, and spirit. The soul is the intersection of body (this evil world) and spirit (the indwelling presence of a holy God). The soul is, therefore, the land of serious battle. Warfare. The body is hopelessly evil. The spirit is eternally saved (speaking of a Christian). So the soul is the site of our struggle. The soul is the place of conscious thought. And those thoughts, are the articles of warfare. Satan presses hard on our thoughts. he brings anxiety, fear, rebellion, desires, doubt, all the things against God. These things come often in the form of fleeting thoughts. It is no wonder then that Paul says this about "taking thought captive" right after speaking of spiritual warfare. It is in fact a war within our own minds. A war of thoughts. What does it mean to "take a thought captive"? There are many aspects to this. First, the notion that we CAN! We can control those thoughts. We would not be commanded to do something impossible to do. No. It is because we CAN take thoughts captive that Paul says this. That anxiety, that temptation, that evil desire, it can be taken captive! Secondly, captive implies chains, prison, locking away. We have the ability to throw a chain around a thought and remove it from our mind. Put it away out of site and influence. Removing the thought from our life permanently. But how? When it first arrives! We are in a war, a daily battle. It would be wise to recognize that and never put our guard down. Constantly check every thought against written scripture. Every one. Is it like Jesus? Does this thought bring us more holiness or less? What would Jesus do? Question every thought. If thoughts are found that are contrary to scripture, then prayerfully and willfully take that one captive. Recognize it as an enemy attack and repent of allowing such evil into our minds. Immediately replace that evil thought of doubt or rebellion with thoughts of scripture holiness and love. God given conviction and humbleness, holy spirit power and boldness. Push the evil thought out by replacing it with good thought. "Think on the good things, the holy things, the things of good report" Yes, you are in fact in control of your thoughts. Capture them, control them. Turn on the light of Christ within your mind and darkness flees. If it is difficult, turn to prayer. Ask for help. Jesus promised He would be with us always, so call on Him. Confess the evil thought of anxiety, worry, doubt, anger, whatever as sin and ask forgiveness. Meditate on the word, the written word and the calming voice of the Holy Spirit. Memorize scripture for just such an occasion. Have a library of verses in your head ready at a moment's notice to battle the enemy. This is war. A war inside. A personal battle. But it is a battle that you can and must win. Turn to Jesus, and win the battle.

Pleasant Grove Baptist Church March 02, 2019 at 03:57AM

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via IFTTT And they drew lots. Chance. Random chance or God directed chance. A system used throughout the Bible, up until this final instance. When a difficult choice faced God's people, they often turned to such measures to know God's direction. In fact, many believe that back in old Israel the objects called "the urim and thummin" utilized by the priests was a chance type approach. We do not know for sure, but could be. The important point here is this: here was the last time in recorded Bible history. Why? Because soon after this time, the Holy Spirit was given! Jesus had accomplished His mission, freed man from the condemnation of sin. Therefore man could once again become clean and thereby become the temple of God. Holiness could touch man for the first time since the fall in the garden. One important result is that God could once again dwell with man and communicate directly with him. The Holy Spirit is the spirit of God Himself, who fills man's heart and leads us in all truth. That includes understanding as well as direction on what to do. No more need for chance! You don't see the apostles casting lots for decisions about anything once the Holy Spirit entered. No! They knew God's will because the voice and leadership of God is inside, constantly whispering, always, on everything, 24x7. What a blessing! What peace! You don't need to cast lots! You can follow the directions and guidance of God! A great example of this is Israel in the desert. How did they know when and where to go through the wilderness for 40 years? They followed a physical cloud by day and FIRE by night. The fire of the Holy ghost now lives inside us showing us the way. At Pentecost tongues of fire descended on all present. That is the fire the lights our way on our desert. Following the Holy Spirit is always a choice. God does not force us. We must choose to follow, every minute of every day. We can choose the wrong path, but if we are constantly humble and seeking, He will lead us in all truth. Life is full of questions, choices. Scripture shows us the guidelines. All is laid out, no area of life is left without a biblical standard and direction. Yet specific instances can be hard to choose. This job or that? This word or that? This door or that? We need that still small voice of wisdom to guide us in day to day lives. This is why Jesus said to "wait until power comes from on high". Power to know what path is right, power to do what's right. No longer blindly casting lots trusting God to make them fall His way. Now we KNOW what is the way. This is real. This is today. You can be directed in all things. You can know the mind of Christ. Today and always. Seek the infilling of the Holy Spirit and then learn to listen. Nothing is more important for the treacherous day in which we live. Know the mind of Christ.