From the Pastor's desk...

“Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart. Wait, I say, on the Lord!” (Psalm 27:14).

Every child of God faces difficulties from time to time. In fact, when we’re living through difficult days, sometimes it seems like they will never end.  The Lord Jesus warned us of the difficult times. He said, “In this world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33).

Have you ever noticed why so many of the people mentioned in the Bible are remembered so well?  When you think of David, what comes to your mind?  Probably the giant, Goliath, right?

When you think of Daniel, what comes to your mind?  Probably the lion’s den, right?  When you think of Paul and Silas, what comes to your mind?  Probably the time they were put in prison for preaching about Jesus. In the midst of great difficulty, these and others received strength and courage through their relationship with God.  You and I can do the same.

We also can be victorious in life through an intimate relationship with Jesus.  He will strengthen our hearts.  May the people of Maple Spring CoB be people of great courage. May our faith in God conquer our fears!

January 28, 2019

Did you ever feel like quitting?  Did you ever feel like giving up on life?  I’m sure all of us have had that feeling at one time or another. Sometimes we just want to run away from it all.

In the Old Testament we read of a man named Jonah who “ran away.”  He ran from the will of God. Many times the reason for our unhappiness is that we somehow got out of the will of God. Jonah said, “I cried out to the Lord because of my affliction.  I remembered the Lord and my prayer went up to You, into Your holy temple.”

At times we need to be reminded just how much God loves us.  He wants to bless us, have fellowship with us and use us to advance His Kingdom.  So when you feel like giving up, cry out to God for help. He will bring healing and strength to you.  “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; For He will abundantly pardon.”

Have you felt like giving up recently?  Have you wanted to run away, like Jonah?  Spend some quality alone time with God.  Let Him remind you of your purpose.

Now please read Psalm 46:10.

January 15, 2019

“You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you,”  (Isaiah 26:3)

There is a search and a cry today for world peace. That search is often frustrating because nearly every day we hear and read of acts of terror and violence.

Just as the search for world peace often seems frustrating and hopeless, so is our search for personal peace.  It seems that often times our problems arrive in bunches. Is your heart and mind free from anxiety and fear today?  Is peace in our mind and heart even possible today? Yes, it is indeed!

The Bibles states that “God is Spirit,” (John 4:24).  We are also spiritual beings and the Spirit of God wants to speak to your spirit.  That, my friends, is  when you begin to experience peace of mind.

We all need to schedule time alone with God so we can hear Him speaking to us. Jesus spoke to the storm and said, “Peace, be still.”  (Mark 4;39).  The Bible states that “the winds then ceased and there was a great calm.”  Jesus then asked His disciples, “Why are you so fearful?”  (Mark 4:40).

I don’t know what “winds”  or “storms” you are facing today.  However, I do know that the Holy Spirit desires to speak to your spirit and cause you to experience a “great calm.”  All you have to do is to call on Him.  Give it a try and see what happens.”

“Be still and know that I  am God,”   (Psalm 46:10)

January 7, 2019

Did you make any new year’s resolutions?  How are you doing with them?  I read this sign recently, “May your troubles last as long as your resolutions.”  Some people laugh at New Year’s resolutions, but it really would be to our benefit to take some time out to allow God to reveal to us areas in our life where there is room for improvement.

Jesus said, “Watch and pray lest you enter into temptation.  The spirit is indeed willing, but the flesh is weak.”   The only way we can live better lives and experience victory over sin and Satan is to yield our mind and spirit to God’s Holy Spirit and let Him live through us.  He then becomes our strength, our helper, our wisdom and our source.  You will never be able to keep your new year’s resolutions or make any improvement in your life at all on your own.  Only when you fully surrender your will and spirit to the Holy Spirit will you experience a positive change.  God is your biggest cheerleader.  He wants you to succeed.  He wants you to have an excellent future, but it’s our choice and decision to yield to Him.

May you experience a very blessed and productive year this year!

December 24, 2018

“And His name shall be called Wonderful………………………..”   (Isaiah 9:6)

Seven Hundred years before the birth of Christ, God spoke through the prophet Isaiah to give us a description of the coming Messiah.  “His name shall be called ‘Wonderful’.”

We mess around with that word, “wonderful,”  and say things such as “I had a wonderful time last night.”

Or, “Isn’t this a wonderful day,” etc.   However, God  said that the word, “wonderful,”  is reserved for His Son, our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

True wonder distinguishes and separates.  True wonder speaks of the handprint of God.   When I think of that word, “wonder,”  I think of God’s creation such as the Grand Canyon, Niagra Falls, or the birth of a child.

Jesus was wonderful at birth and He was wonderful in life.  As Jesus began His earthly ministry we read in John 2 that Jesus was invited to a wedding. The wedding guests ran out of wine.  Jesus was informed of it.

Jesus then instructed ordinary servants to put some ordinary water into some ordinary jars,  then something WONDERFUL happened.  The water turned to wine.

In Matthew 8 we read that Jesus was in an ordinary boat, out on a ordinary lake with His ordinary disciples.  A great storm arose.  Jesus was asleep.  The ordinary disciples awakened Jesus. Jesus spoke to the storm and something WONDERFUL then happened.

In John 6 we read that Jesus was speaking to a great crowd of thousands.  The people grew hungry.  One disciple spoke up and said, “There is a boy here that has five small loaves of bread and two fish.  Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.  Jesus took the loaves and fish and gave thanks.  The something WONDERFUL happened. Everyone ate plenty and there were also twelve baskets left over.

Yes, everything about Jesus is “Wonderful.”   Allow His to do something wonderful in your life.

December 10, 2018

Were you ever caught unprepared for something?  That is a terrible feeling. Personally, I would rather be an hour early for an appointment than be one minute late.  I’ve learned the hard way that it always pays huge dividends to be prepared.

Jesus told us that as it was in Noah’s day, so shall it be prior to His return (Matthew 24:7).

Friends, we are living in those days now. The Lord Jesus will return for His church soon.  How do we become prepared for Jesus’ return?   “For if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have  now received the atonement (Romans 5:10,11).

Noah’s ark is a type or symbol of the church.  Are you really prepared for Jesus’ return?  Are you encouraging others to be prepared?  Now is the time to prepare.  Jesus is coming again.

November 19, 2018

Has it ever occurred to you that no Americans were more underprivileged than that small handful of people from the Mayflower who started the custom of setting aside a day of Thanksgiving to Almighty God? They had no homes and no government agency to help them build homes.  They had no means of transportation, other than their legs. Their only food came from the sea and the forest, and they had to get it themselves.  They had no money and no place to spend it if they had any.  And they had no amusements except what they made for themselves. However, God blessed their faithfulness to Him and their spirit of thankfulness. It often takes faith to express an attitude of thanksgiving.   In John chapter six, we read that Jesus once took fives loaves of bread and just two small fish, lifted them up to our Heavenly Father and gave thanks for the food that they had. Because of the spirit of thanksgiving, God multiplied that small amount of food, over 5,000 people were fed and there were also leftovers for take outs.

Before Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, He prayed and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me,”  (John 11:41).  Because of the spirit of thanksgiving Lazarus was raised from the dead.

In spite of the trials and great difficulties you may be facing this week, you still have many reasons to express gratitude to God.  God will honor and bless your spirit of thanksgiving.  I want you to know that I am very thankful for you.  I’m grateful that you are interested in this ministry.  May our Lord richly bless you today.

October 30, 2018

“And there is a time to be silent and there is a time to speak,”  (Ecclesiastes 3:7b).

The tongue – what a powerful organ. Without the tongue, no mother could sing her baby to sleep. No teacher could stretch the mind of students. No attorney could defend the truth in court. No Pastor could comfort a troubled soul. Our entire world would be reduced to unintelligible grunts. Seldom do we pause to realize just how valuable this strange muscle in our mouths really is.

But the tongue is a volatile as it is vital.  “The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell,”

(James 3:6).

Did you ever open your mouth when you should have kept it shut, hmmmmmmm?  Did you ever keep your mouth shut when you should have opened it, hmmmmmmmmmmmm?

I want to share with you three Biblical truths concerning the tongue.

• The tongue contains an awesome power for good or evil.
• No person can control his/her tongue by their own power.
• We must submit our tongue to the power of the Holy Spirit.

May our prayer be, “Set a guard over my mouth, Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips.”

Jesus said, “For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.  For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned. Everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken.”

 “Set a guard over my mouth, Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips,” (Psalm 141:3)

(James 3:1-6)

October 22, 2018

“And Abraham called the name of the place, The Lord Will Provide; as it is said to this day, ‘In the Mount of the Lord it shall be provided.’” (Genesis 22:14)

Because of their faith and trust in God, Abraham and Sarah knew that God would have to raise Isaac (their long promised son)  back to life if Abraham sacrificed him as God had asked. That’s why Abraham said to his men, “Stay here with the donkey; the lad (Isaac) and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.”

As Abraham took the knife  to slay Isaac, God spoke to him. Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, there was behind him a ram caught in a thicket by its horns (Genesis 22:13).  God provided just as He had promised.

God said of Abraham, “He did not waver at the promises of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God” (Romans 4:20).  Abraham is also called, “The father of all who believe,” (Romans 4:11).

God has also promised to provide for you and me.  He promised us that He will provide  His presence, His power, and His love. No matter what difficulty you are facing today trust God to keep His word to you just as He did to Abraham. He will provide for you.  E. Stanley Jones once said, “Surrender to Christ or surrender to chaos.”  The choice is ours to make.

October 8, 2018

Yesterday was “World Wide Communion Sunday.”   Many people around the world participated in a Communion Service.  John Wesley once said, “The Lord’s Supper is the greatest evangelistic tool we have.”  Wesley taught that Communion should be served to believers and non-believers alike.  He said, “The Communion Service is a greater aid to evangelism than a cross on a church building or on a necklace.”

Our purposes in participating in the Communion Service should be:

• To Remember: Jesus said, “Do this in remembrance of Me.”
• To Rejoice: “You proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.”
• To Repent: “Let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup.”
• To Reconcile: Because of Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross we are able to be reconciled to God and enjoy fellowship with Him.  We are all on equal standing at the Lord’s table.

When we participate in the Communion Service it should cause us to rejoice knowing that because of our faith in Jesus, one day we will be able to sit down at the Father’s Table with Jesus and fellowship with Him forever.