Pleasant Grove Baptist Church July 30, 2019 at 04:07PM

from Pleasant Grove Baptist Church https://ift.tt/2GER5Ad
via IFTTT The food set and available. If you are in need, come on down to second and main in rosebud. Will be here till 8pm or when the food runs out

Pleasant Grove Baptist Church July 27, 2019 at 03:23AM

from Pleasant Grove Baptist Church https://ift.tt/2SM4wTJ
via IFTTT The battlefield of Christ is in the mind! Thoughts, fears, anxiety, imaginations, dreams, these are the things that matter. To often we focus on actions. Sure actions matter, actions are what will be judged in the end. But the hidden battlefield of thought inside ones mind is where actions spring from. It is the thoughts that we allow which drive the actions we do. Think wrong, do wrong. Think right, do right. Remember what Jesus said... If a man "looks" on a woman with lust in his heart, he has committed adultery. Looking and thinking about the pleasures of sin is what leads us to sin! The thoughts make us guilty because if we don't "capture" the thought, we end up doing the action. Thoughts matter! They are seeds... Either seeds of destruction of seeds of success. The battle is about judging each thought properly and captureing, removing, halting those thoughts leading to evil. What is an evil thought? Anything that goes against God's will or law: I wish I could go party with them. It's too bad I got caught. That would be so much fun if I could do it. I know that is wrong but it sure looks fun. I wish I could have what they have. I hate that person. I really don't like this but I have to. Evil! So many simple thoughts are evil! Perhaps not blatantly evil, but evil still because they lead away from God's mercy, grace, and righteousness. Praising sin, thinking fondly of the pleasures of sin, looking back at sin with longing for the fun, evil! Remember Lott's wife? She looked back, longingly. She missed the pleasures of her old life and looked back at her old home in Sodom. Wham! God's judgement turned her into a pillar of salt. Looking back longingly at the pleasures of sin, missing them in our thoughts; evil! So what do we do? Daily, hourly, minute by minute we actively capture thoughts that are not in line with God's righteousness, and we remove them. We stand against the seeds of sin in our own heart. The flesh will always desire the pleasure of sin. But our spirit desires the righteousness of God once we are filled with the Spirit. The soul sits in the middle and decides to either follow the flesh or the spirit. That is the battle ground. You, your mind, your will, is in charge of the path you choose. As soon as a negative thought pops in, don't give it room to grow, capture it immediately and toss it out. Ungodly thoughts are an infection, they reproduce and spread rapidly. If we don't capture them when small and single, they quickly grow strong and drag our emotions to the flesh. The battle gets harder every second we allow that initial thought to remain. Take captive any and all thoughts that even slightly violate the knowledge and righteousness of Christ. All. Don't entertain lust, greed, envy, hatred, sinful pleasures, memories or desires for pleasure of sin. None of that! Think on what's forward, the holiness of Christ, the good things, the holy things, the things of good report. These thoughts build us up, give us strength, lead us into life and light. It matters what we think. Thoughts will make or break us. Be diligent in monitoring your own thoughts through the lens of scripture. Be quick to capture the ones that violate good or praise sin. Take that first step in deciding to capture the bad thoughts, and God, through the cleansing power of the Holy Spirit will give the power to live righteously. This is victory!

Pleasant Grove Baptist Church July 22, 2019 at 03:46AM

from Pleasant Grove Baptist Church https://ift.tt/2LwS8GF
via IFTTT Cleanse ourselves? How do we "cleans ourselves"? We can't. Yet we can. We can not do the cleansing, only Jesus through the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit can cleanse us and change our heart. But.. and this is important, we must submit those areas of our heart and life to His will. We must take the step of submitting to Him. If we do not turn a part of our life over to the authority of Jesus, He will not cleanse us in that area. When we stubbornly hold on to a sin that we like, a habit, a thought, a pleasure that we just aren't ready to give up, we remain in that sin. What to do? Pray to "want" to give up that sin. You see, even when we truly want to çontinue enjoying the pleasures of a sin, we can decide that we want to stop wanting it! Just like a person who tries to stop smoking. For a time at least, they often want to quit, but the can't, they don't want to do what they want to do. During this time they want to not want it, but they still do. How is this possible? Because we are a three part being. Body, soul, and spirit. All three parts if us can have "wants" and those wants can conflict. This creates the common war within a person, when the body wants this and the soul wants that. When the spirit drives us this way yet the soul demands that way. The path to peace, to overcoming, is first realizing that we do have three parts, and those parts can be at war. Only Jesus can bring all three into harmony and fix us completely. Not willpower, not struggling, but truly change us to be single minded and desire Him only. The second step is to make the decision that we want to be clean. We want to be rid of this sin or that. This habit or that. Pray for the desire to end it. Pray for God to change your heart. Give Him permission, in your words, to do whatever He needs to cleanse you. Anything. Turn it over to Him. Whatever it takes. Scary? Yep. If your body or soul is bent on living in a sin, it may take a lot to change that. God can and will do it, but only if you make the decision that it's worth it. He will bring us to the point where the sin disgusts us, the pleasure of it holds no attraction anymore, and we can walk away in peace. Are you ready? Are you prepared to say to God that you will submit to His will, ask Him to do whatever is necessary to change you? To remove that sin? The habit? Tell Him now. Give verbal permission, from your true heart, to bring you to a place where you no longer desire sin. Trust that Jesus through the refining fire of the Holy Spirit will change your heart, and it will be worth it. Turn from sin. Set aside sin. It is a decision we make, and the power to accomplish it comes from above. All we need do is decide and trust. Follow whatever path God opens for you, and trust. Be clean. Be whole. Be like God. Be at peace.

Pleasant Grove Baptist Church July 21, 2019 at 04:09AM

from Pleasant Grove Baptist Church https://ift.tt/2YfqNyG
via IFTTT "come out" "Do not touch what is unclean" God's people are called to live differently. Called to stand out. In the verses before this, Paul talks about those of light associating with those of darkness, of clean mixing with unclean. What does this mean for us today? Be different. Be the light. We are not different if people can not see that we are different. We should live different, do things differently, act differently. Not on Sundays, but everyday of the week. In public and in our homes. Today it's questions like: How are our children raised? Who teaches them? What do they learn? What messages blare from the tv inside our home? What music fills the air in our home or car? Do the females in our family dress modestly, by biblical standards? Do the males look like ambassadors of Christ? Where do we turn for fun and entertainment? How do we spend our days? What does our home look like on Halloween? What type of friends do we hang out with? What words fill the air around us? So many questions to ask. All asking "are we different? Do we embrace the world and it's pleasures or do we change it? Do we join in or stand apart? Can someone look at us and tell from our demeanor, our presence, our speech, our life that we belong to God? As a demonstration of this principle. Try this experiment. Take two glasses of pure water. They look the same. Now drop a few drops of food coloring in one and mix. Colored water, unclean. Now... Pour both glasses into a third glass, mixing them. What do you get? Unclean water. The pure does not clean the unpure, instead the blend together into a compromise, and stay that way, unpure. Now be careful. Here is where many go astray. There are two common missteps with this concept. Misstep 1: legalism. When we start to define what exactly is and is not acceptable, and think that DOING one is good while DOING the other is bad, we ran adrift into legalism. This isn't about rules, but the heart. It is not about actions, but desires. Do you desire to be clean and pure? Are you looking for ways to be pleasing to God in every area of our life? Have we submitted every moment, every action , every desire to His will? Misstep 2: holier than thou. When we start to think that we are better because we DO things or don't DO things, we get proud. We puff up and look down our noses to others. That is pride and sin. That is what hung Jesus on the cross. We are never to consider ourselves better than anyone, for all that is good is Grace, not earned. Also, a warning to keep this in context. Paul is talking about relationships, bonding, mixing, fellowship. Who do we view as friends and partners, what do we accept as normal life. This says nothing about going to help people in desperate situations. Walking into a bar is not sin, walking in to get drunk as fun or escape is. It's the motive of the heart that matters. We are not to avoid those who most need the light, but we are also not to live like them. Jesus was criticized because He visited and ate with obvious sinners. He brought the light to the darkest. Those who concentrated on appearances criticized Jesus for it. Yet they themselves lived in darkness that was kept quiet. They had hearts not seeking the light, but seeking to live like the world while appearing to be the light. It's in the heart. What is the desire of your heart? Do you yearn to be like your Holy Father? If so... You will. This promise is amazing! God the Creator of the universe will be with you, if you desire to be like Him. If you want His holiness more than the world's pleasures, you will find Him What do you want? God or this world? Choose, and choose wisely. You can walk with God, talk with God, know the presence of our Father as a dad, know Jesus as our closest friend. All we need do is, seek Him. Stop living like the world, stop seeking the world, fall on those knees in respect and submission, and seek Him .

Pleasant Grove Baptist Church July 15, 2019 at 03:20AM

from Pleasant Grove Baptist Church https://ift.tt/2XKS2RW
via IFTTT Strong and gentle. Two concepts we rarely associate together. Yet they are. In fact, you can not have gentleness without true strength. Think what it takes to be gentle and loving. For example, let's say a groom wants to lovingly and romantically carry his bride across the threshold into their new life together. If he is not strong, he will struggle. In the struggle he will likely cause hurt or at least fear in his bride. Or think of a fireman needing to carry an injured person out of a burning building to save them. The fireman requires strength to be able to carry someone without causing further injury. Strength is a necessary prerequisite to gentleness. Here Paul is saying to "be strong" yet "walk in love". Strength in truth. Stand against all compromise. The Corinthian church had become weak. When members sought to define their own truth, the leadership allowed it. They did not defend the faith. The result was chaos, sin, confusion. The church as a whole suffered because the people were not standing firm in truth. They preferred to accommodate personal desire, to be inclusive, to be sure to not offend, to be politically correct. And all of that is compromise and sin. Paul says to be strong and stand for the pure gospel, speak against sin and compromise. But Do so in love. Never attack anyone nor act disrespectfully. Always consider the one struggling to resist sin as a brother needing love. Treat them with the same respect you would your best friend who is making bad choices. This takes strength. It's not easy to lovingly correct a brother. But we must. It's not easy to accept everyone in love while standing against sin, but we must. We are, in fact, our "brothers keeper". Be strong, be courageous, be brave, but act in love. Don't let people continue in sin, but rescue them from it. Speak truth in a manner that conveys respect and love.

Pleasant Grove Baptist Church July 12, 2019 at 03:30AM

from Pleasant Grove Baptist Church https://ift.tt/2SdUiLv
via IFTTT The gospel in a nutshell. Christ died for our sins Was buried And rose from the grave on the third day. That's what matters! The foundation. All else is built on these three facts. Christ died for our sins Man fell under judgement, convicted and sentences to death for disobedience to God, our creator. Jesus stepped in and volunteered to suffer our sentence, to die instead of us, instead of you, so that you could live. The debt, the sentence was paid and by accepting this, we, you, carry no sin. Our entire past is erased and we are clean as the day we were born, having been "born again". "There is now therefore no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus." Crist was buried It was real. His body suffered and died a horrible death. It was over. No tricks, He died and was placed in a tomb and sealed. Not hours, but days. Three days and three nights. The body had already decayed and begun to decompose. Christ Rose from the dead! He had the power to lay down His life and to take it back up again, proving that He was indeed victorious over death itself. And the best part? He never died again! He lives today, now. He is just as alive and real today as when He walked on this Earth. He is Alive, real, and available to us. He speaks to us, intervenes in our lives, watches over us just as He did then. We do not have to fear anything in this life, not even death, as Jesus has proven Himself master over all! As long as we stay with Him, in Him, we are safe from everything thrown at us by anyone, we are victorious over everything because we are in Jesus and He in us. That's the gospel! You can be clean, washed free from all of your past AND you can live victorious as a servant of Jesus with no fear, no anxiety, no risk. We tend to add a bunch of stuff to it, but the foundation is simple. Be clean, be free, be victorious by giving yourself, your life, your everything to Jesus. There is no other way, no other path to God. No other plans to find peace and prosperity in life. All other attempts are futile and will fail. It is this simple. Give it all to Jesus and live, hold on to it to keep trying and fail. If you have not yet surrendered all to Jesus, do it now. Give your life, your troubles, your worries to Him and live for Him freely. Live for Him, not you. Find peace and freedom by and through Him. If you have surrendered to Jesus, ask what else you can surrender! Seek to give more, ask what is left that you still hold on to. Ask where you still try to run things. Ask what part of your life has not died yet. And then surrender that too. Seek 100% submitted to Jesus. It's actually pretty easy to see what you have not given to Jesus... It's those things you still worry over! Those things that cause anxiety. How can you be worried when it's His responsibility? What do you have to be anxious over but the things you hang onto and try to control yourself. Find peace, peace that "passes all understanding" by giving it all to Jesus. Because you see, it's all Christ. All. What He did, who He is, what He does. We are nothing, He is everything. The gospel. It's all Jesus.

Pleasant Grove Baptist Church July 10, 2019 at 03:30AM

from Pleasant Grove Baptist Church https://ift.tt/32kfqEw
via IFTTT The beauty of God's system, called family. Some might be tempted to look at this scripture on a negative light. "Women can't speak in church? That's discrimination!" But hold on... Before we accuse God of wrongdoing, let seek to understand what God is saying through Paul here. First, context. Paul is writing to a church that he had birthed who had fallen into chaotic meetings of disrespectful yelling, each one trying to overpower the other in prophesy, speaking in tongues, singing, etc. Much of this letter to the church is Paul explaining how God puts everything into order as a Holy Spirit choreographed event with everyone participating but one at a time and respectfully. Today we have fallen into the opposite trap. Most churches seek so much order, even control, that no one speaks during the "service". All, men and women alike, sit silently listening. How can we begin to complain about "women be silent" when today ALL are silent? First we should seek to operate as the early church did, before we complain about instruction to that church. But more importantly, this is not an indictment against the women, but a strong show of support for families. All through time, history, and scripture, God has ordained the family as the structure He builds society on. In fact, the family was created long before "the church". The church was ordained as a vehicle to help the families to serve God, not the other way around. The church serves the families within it. The church is, in essence, our extended family. A family of families. Therefore, at church, the family is represented to the larger group. We are not to each be independent individuals in church, but each part of our family. Each family learns and grows and contributes. This is how God brings order, each family is a recognized group. To do this, each family must have a spokesman to represent it. That spokesman is the father/husband. It is vital that the father /husband be recognized as the priest of the family to preserve God's order. This is what Paul is referring to. The wives and children fall under the husband's authority just as the husbands fall under the local priest's authority. It is a heiriechy ordained by God. The family goes to church, the father represents the family, and guides the application of all learned in light of his own family's needs. It is the husband/father who is responsible for being in tune with the family so that he can guide each individual in their growth, just as the pastor guides each family put under his care, father's guide the members of the family. Families learn and grow together. This system of "church" is perhaps so foreign to our understanding today that we struggle to understand scriptures such as "women be silent in church". In our church, EVERYONE is silent unless called upon with a scripted contribution. We split families up by age and gender, destroying the basic structure God ordained, and put the poor pastor in charge of guiding everyone. When that doesn't work (as it simply can't) we bring in Sunday School teachers and youth leaders in and attempt to meet the needs of the individuals within the family, but without a family structure. Now, don't get me wrong, all these servants do their best and are committed loving individuals, but the model is simply broken and can not work! The family can not be split apart and then expected to thrive. Statistics show us that this man made model is not working. How much simpler and more effective to just use the God ordained heiriechy and structure of family within the church. Dad is the representative of the family, he acts as youth leader and counselor to his own family, and the church assists dad in his journey as family priest. Everyone now has their own priest! Dad, mom, children, all are served individually through a very close relationship. And then, when we all come together, dad represents the family to the church. He presents the work of his hands and seeks help. He applies truths presented by others to his little "church" called family. It's absolutely beautiful and brilliant as a social fabric! But, if individuals see themselves as individuals and demand to speak of their own accord, representing themselves, demanding attention to themselves, the whole structure breaks down. How can God bless when we reject his structure? This is what Paul refers to... Respecting God's creation and order while everyone participates in their own is chaos. This is not a mandate against women speaking in church, no! This is a mandate to support families as God created them with each family contributing as a active participant in church, in a model where every individual has a personal pastor to guide them. To anyone who rejects this heirechy Paul asks "are you so important, has truth come to you only, are you more then everyone else?". That is pride talking. "I want to be recognized, I don't want to be part of my family, I want to stand alone". Pride. Rebellion. God will not bless. We dare not reject God's design for the spiritual body (church) any more than His design for our physical bodies. We live by certain rules of health for our bodies. The church body is the same. rejecting how God designed our bodies brings sickness and weakness. Embracing God's design brings health and blessing and power. Can women speak in church? Of course, so long as they are accepting the heirichy God ordained and doing so in order with respect, just like everyone else. This is not a mandate to never utter a word, this is a mandate to respect families as God's designed and central vehicle of life. What of single ladies in the church? Simple. If a single woman, mother or not, is a member, she represents her family in place of the father / husband. She becomes the family spokesman until such time as God brings the or a father/husband into obedience and they can operate as a full family. If she remains single, she remains as the family priest. This all may seem counter cultural, mostly because the church today has little resemblance to the new testament church Paul was speaking to. We have drifted far off course, following the wisdom of men in how we structure the church. Only when we go back to the new testament God ordained design can we fully understand the beauty of structure and order where each member is free to express themselves in each and every church service as a active working member of God's family of families. It's beautiful when we get this right! God can finally bless.

Pleasant Grove Baptist Church July 09, 2019 at 03:34AM

from Pleasant Grove Baptist Church https://ift.tt/2XXrkF2
via IFTTT What has happened to the new testament church? These verses come from a set of chapters of a letter written by Paul to a church that he had launched. This church had gone a bit astray and Paul was correcting them. What had they gone astray in? Disorder. The church people were moving so fluently in the spiritual gifts that disorder resulted. Apparently many people were prophesying, talking over each other, acting disrespectfully to each other as they moved under the power of God. Now, without justifying their disorderly conduct, let me ask you, have you been in a church service where the problem was too many of the church people were prophesying ? Paul did not call these false prophets nor false prophesies. They were real! This was not the church leaders, not the preacher or pastor or teacher. This was the common members so moved by the spirit that they were all blurting out what they received from heaven. Paul corrected the disorderly nature of it, not the actions themselves. He simply said.... "Take turns!" What happened to the church? Where are the saints in the pews speaking prophesy, song, teaching, insight, interpretation? How did we go from "not everyone talk at once" as the problem to "everyone sit quietly and listen to one speak for an hour"? The problem in today's church, at least most churches, is not over exuberance of the members all anxiously walking in acts of the spirit. The problem today is, who among the members actually says anything according to the spirit during a meeting? What would Paul say if he walked into your church today? Would he be concerned as he was in this church that too many speak at once? Or would he be concerned that no one speaks at all? How far the church has fallen from the New testament ways, truth, and power. How shall the saints leave the church service and change the world if they don't even practice following the spirit during the service? Where do they learn to follow the spirit? One does not go into the battlefield without learning the ways of warfare and practicing, how could we send saints out into the battlefield of the world without practice? Our churches today often don't look anything like the new testament church, where the leadership had to "slow down" the excited members so anxious to do God's work that chaos resulted. Our churches today look more like a movie theater, members silently absorbing for an hour only to go back into the world unchanged. The spirit of the prophets are subject to the prophets. The person must act, willfully. This takes practice. Listen and do. The safety and acceptance of church as an extended family is the place to learn and practice! Not in chaos, but also not in silence. The wisdom, insight, encouragement brought to the church by a whole body working together is unmatchable by any individual. Dont rely on the preacher to meet all needs. The preacher or pastor can't! That is not even God's design. Everyone of the saints brings something to offer. The pastor can never duplicate that. The church, is a family and a body. Multiple members all following the same spirit in slightly different ways for a common purpose. The church is action, work, practice, growth. And it's one of the most beautiful experiences imaginable to behold, and to participate in.

Pleasant Grove Baptist Church July 06, 2019 at 07:50AM

from Pleasant Grove Baptist Church https://ift.tt/2JgluGC
via IFTTT Open Invitation to lend a hand! We are looking for a few people willing to lend a hand financially. Have you been blessed by God with financial resources? If so, please read on. The "Feed the Neighborhood" ministry in Rosebud is expanding greatly. Each week we now feed over 100 families with free food. That's well over 10% of the population of our community. The stories we hear each week of gratefulness would bring tears to your eyes as they do ours. We now have an opportunity to expand this to beyond just food, by adding in other essential needs of life. Paper products, home cleaning products, baby products, etc. The "stuff" of life. This would be such a blessing to many families struggling to buy essentials like paper towels, diapers, etc. And you have an opportunity to help. These products are available to our church ministry at a extremely low price, but still a price. We are looking for a few people blessed to be able to donate a few dollars each month to purchase these items to be given to those in need in the community. Our church volunteers will provide the labor, fuel, and logistics to deliver to the community. Even just a half dozen people giving $20 per month would make this an ongoing ministry for the people of Rosebud. If God tugs at your heart to help your neighbors, please contact us. You can donate in person, mail a check, or even paypal with a credit card. Thank you and God Bless!

Pleasant Grove Baptist Church July 04, 2019 at 03:20AM

from Pleasant Grove Baptist Church https://ift.tt/2XPbn3C
via IFTTT There is a way out! No matter how tempted you are, no matter how hopeless it seems, no matter how the voices scream that there is no way to resist so just give in, there is a way out! What a glorious promise! You do not have to sin. You can resist that temptation that lures you. You can escape the agony of yet again giving in to that secret sin you detest. You are not powerless against it. You are not the slave to sin. The voices that say "there is no hope" are lieing! You can overcome because scripture says God has already made a path to escape. God does not lie, he fulfills every promise. So yes, there is a way out! The nature of the temptation does not matter. Whatever it is that calls to you, whatever tugs at your flesh to violate God's law just one more time, it is escapable! When that temptation arises, and you feel powerless to resist, there is an answer, but only one. There is a path, but only one. That path is Jesus. You see, one thing is true. YOU are indeed powerless to overcome temptation, of yourself. No mental exercises, no technique, no amount of will power will be able to overcome temptation. Man has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. All men. We are all powerless over sin and temptation. BUT, we can each overcome through the victory of Jesus on the cross! If you turn to Jesus, HE is powerful and faithful to overcome for you! When the voices say "you can not do this" just reply "no, I can't but Jesus can" and rely on the strength and victory of Jesus to overcome through you. Turn your heart to Jesus and ask him to work through you, to purify you, to strengthen you. You can do all things THROUGH Christ. But only through Christ. You alone are powerless. Temptation comes against good people, against God's people, not in an attempt to break us. God is not trying to see where our limits are, He already knows! What God is doing is showing us the defeat of satan! God is building our faith, fulfilling our joy, but showing us that HE has already overcome, by demonstrating that all temptation is conquerable, that satan has no power. None. Zero. He lost. When Jesus died on that cross as a guiltless man, he paid for your sins. But when Jesus rose from the tomb on the third day, He defeated satan and death itself. He took the keys to satan's power on Earth and crushed them. We fight a defeated foe. The battle is already won! It's over. The epic battle between good and evil is over and Jesus won. Jesus does not fight satan anymore, there is no need. He already won! What that means for us is that we can escape any temptation to sin, if we trust in Jesus, turn to Jesus, live under the authority of Jesus. If we belong to Jesus, bought by that precious blood spilled out on the cross, then satan is powerless against us. All we have to do is say no. Resist. In Jesus name. If you have not given your life to Christ, then you are in fact powerless against temptation. You will fall. Nothing else can help you because there is "a" path. Only one. All else is a lie that leads to failure. Jesus is the only way because He is the only one who conquered temptation fully. If you have not given your heart and life and body to Jesus, you will fail. But if you do submit to the cross, offer your life and body to Jesus and commit to His will for you, then nothing can stand against you because you are in Him! You belong to Jesus the moment you give yourself to Him. And He takes care of His own. Jesus is the only way. If you are washed in the blood of Christ, lean on Him. Call on Him in the moment of temptation and overcome it all! If you have not yet given all of yourself to Jesus, know that you will fail until you do. The lie is that you can't even with Jesus. The other lie is that you can without Jesus. He is the only way. Seek Him and live!