"Hosanna to the Son of David!" "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" "Hosanna in the Highest!"
Good Morning, my dear brothers and sisters, and welcome to schools day on Carry The Light Ministries message and prayer line. Also today please pray for a family who is having very, very serious problems including, but not limited to, some heavy threats on lives. Yes, police have been notified. We just need to ask God to handle this for us. Just so you know, I always withhold names on requests of this type. Please note that I do not mind getting phone calls from people needing prayer, food and/or other help. If we can help, we will. Our personal information will follow the message today. Please put this information on file.
Other prayer requests today for Pastor Charles Idler, healing from stroke; Pat Parvin, healing from stroke; Vicki, lots of health concerns, and also some personal problems, this young lady really needs lifted in prayer. Also for TJ for health reasons. Please also pray for me today. I will be going to the hospital to have some stones fished out. Seems I have some kidney stones that have lodged between my liver and onions, I mean my liver and bladder ... If all goes well, it should be outpatient surgery.
Triumphal Entry 2: Matthew 21 8/11 - 8 A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 The crowds that went ahead of Him and those that followed shouted, "Hosanna to the Son of David!" "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" "Hosanna in the Highest!" 10 When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, "Who is this?" 11 The crowds answered, "This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee." (NIV)
I often think of all the glory given to God one week and then just a very short time later Jesus was arrested, given a phony trial, beaten, robbed of even the few things He had, like His robe, He was spit on, and nailed to the cross. In one week, this man went from hero to goat, so to speak. Over the rest of this week, and then next week, I am asking God to plant in my mind how this might have gone. I will be using my Bible as my guide, but not writings from other writers, I am just going to God, to give it to me so that I might share it with you. I would like all of you to go into your Bibles and read the accounts from the Triumphal Entry through Easter, and ask God to give it also to you, or to open up my writings to You. Years ago, back before we had television in our home, my parents and my grandparents, when they were with us from time to time, would read the Bible. I would lay on the floor at their feet and ask God to open this in my mind. Back in those days, we had to use our minds to picture things on the radio, and when reading. Now as I have told you before, I am not one that is a good reader, I do not read and understand except that God has opened His word to me, so I am blessed. Again, I am asking God to put this in my mind, so I can sort of paint a picture for You ...
Tomorrow we will be going into Jerusalem with Jesus, we will be sometimes in the crowd, and other times we will be with Him as His disciples. And yes, I am going to ask Jesus if we can be in His sandals part of the time. So for now, let's pray about it.
Dear Father in Heaven, please, make us clean, clean us from our sins. And Lord, over these next two weeks, I am asking that we, in our minds, may walk with You, as in back in time, for we know it would be the same today as You never change. We, Lord, have changed, so place all of this on our minds so we might understand it and see it like it happened. Lord please be in our schools, with Your children in those schools, and of course, Lord, all those in the schools are Your children, regardless of their age. Lord I pray today for the family that is having problems, and indeed pray for all families that are having problems in their homes. Lord, I pray today for Vicki and her health and problems, please dear Lord, carry not just her problems, but carry her for a while. Lord, please heal Pastor Charles and also Pat from their stokes, and yes Lord, I put myself into Your hands today for healing. It would be nice if all the stones would escape before I got to the hospital, but I trust in all you do for me. Thanks for this line, and please lay the messages out for me. In the name of Jesus, Amen.
Now go forth sharing your blessings and walking with Jesus day to day ... and knowing that Jesus loves you very, very much and longs to get nearer to you. Also know that I love you also... dan
Carry The Light Ministries
Pastor Daniel W. & Dolores C. Lehman
16 Dewalt Drive
Mechanicsburg, Pa. 17050
Phones
Home 717 691 8200
Cell phones Pastor Dan 717 991 0754 Dolores 717 991 0763 (Please try home phone first)
e-mail icarrythelight4God@msn.com
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Monday, March 30, 2009
Monday: Triumphal Entry 1
"Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here."
Good Morning, my dear brothers and sisters. It is a beautiful Sunday evening here at the Southern Location of the North Pole. It is Monday (or will be when you read this) and the day we pray for our President and other leaders in Washington and our leaders in our State Houses and County and City/Township offices. It is also the day we pray for our veterans, our current military, our police, firefighters, and all others who work to keep us safe and healthy. Please, as you pray for President Obama, pray for his soul, for salvation, and that he always goes to God before working on things for the USA.
Triumphal Entry 1: Luke 19: 30: "Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here." 31 "If anyone asks you, 'Why are you untying it?' tell him, 'The Lord needs it.'" (NIV)
This coming Sunday, April 5th, is Palm Sunday, and the day in the life of our Lord Jesus that He rode this young donkey colt into Jerusalem. Let me talk today about this little donkey. I want you to notice that Jesus sent two of His disciples into the village ahead of them, more than likely Bethphage, however the name of the village is not as important as the fact that the donkey colt was never ridden. If this was not important why would Jesus bring this out? Let me bring out a few things that God gave me on subject. First of all, if you were to go into a town today, find a Donkey colt, or even a horse tied up, and you took it, you stand a good chance of getting shot, and/or arrested. But if you notice, Jesus cleared the way for those going after the colt. To me, Jesus was sending those two disciples out to do a job for Him, so He made sure that the doors were opened and that the disciples had the tools or resources to get the job done. Is that not the same today when we go out to work for our Lord Jesus? Jesus is just not going to send you out to work for Him and not have the tools to get the job done. So Jesus put things in place for His disciples, as He does for those of us who work for Him.
Now lets talk about the Donkey ... first a side note: If you get a chance, please be sure to look at a donkey; to this day they carry a cross on their backs. If you look, you will see that on a dark colored donkey it will have a light stripe going down over the neck, straight down the back to the tail, and then a stripe also across the shoulders of the animal. For a light color, the stripe is dark.
Now let's go to the scripture in Luke 19: 30: "which no one has ever ridden". Think of how important it was to our Lord Jesus to have this donkey colt that was never ridden. If we go to 1 Samuel 6: 7 you find that when the Ark of the Lord was being moved, it was put into a NEW CART and pulled with TWO COWS that had never been yoked. In Numbers 19: 2 you will find this. "This is a requirement of the law that the Lord has commanded: Tell the Israelites to bring you a red heifer without defect or blemish and that has never been under a yoke." Note please that nothing is used, it is without defect or blemish. It was to be perfect for God. Think of it, when Jesus was born, He was born to a virgin, a woman unused by a man. Do you see these things lining up? God wants to use us, and He wants us to go to work for Him telling the good News to all Creation, what He is telling me is that He wants us to go to work for Him, and go to work for Him clean. Since He has gone to the cross and died for us to clean us of sin, this is all adding up to me. Jesus wants all who work for Him, going to the sinners to talk to them about Jesus, He wants us to be prepared and part of that is to be clean. So today as we go to prayer and end the lesson for today, let's go clean.
Dear Father in Heaven, please hear our prayers as we ask to be cleaned of our sins. And Lord, we also ask that You open the hearts and minds of our President and his wife to come to You to be saved. Then Lord, bless his work as president of this nation. Please also bless our veterans, our current military personnel, their families, and all others who work to keep us safe and sound. Please also bless our leaders in our state house. In the name of Jesus, Amen.
Go forth now, staying clean of sin by repenting, and if and when you slip, go to God again and ask Him to forgive you. And remember to share your blessings ... love ya, dan.
Good Morning, my dear brothers and sisters. It is a beautiful Sunday evening here at the Southern Location of the North Pole. It is Monday (or will be when you read this) and the day we pray for our President and other leaders in Washington and our leaders in our State Houses and County and City/Township offices. It is also the day we pray for our veterans, our current military, our police, firefighters, and all others who work to keep us safe and healthy. Please, as you pray for President Obama, pray for his soul, for salvation, and that he always goes to God before working on things for the USA.
Triumphal Entry 1: Luke 19: 30: "Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here." 31 "If anyone asks you, 'Why are you untying it?' tell him, 'The Lord needs it.'" (NIV)
This coming Sunday, April 5th, is Palm Sunday, and the day in the life of our Lord Jesus that He rode this young donkey colt into Jerusalem. Let me talk today about this little donkey. I want you to notice that Jesus sent two of His disciples into the village ahead of them, more than likely Bethphage, however the name of the village is not as important as the fact that the donkey colt was never ridden. If this was not important why would Jesus bring this out? Let me bring out a few things that God gave me on subject. First of all, if you were to go into a town today, find a Donkey colt, or even a horse tied up, and you took it, you stand a good chance of getting shot, and/or arrested. But if you notice, Jesus cleared the way for those going after the colt. To me, Jesus was sending those two disciples out to do a job for Him, so He made sure that the doors were opened and that the disciples had the tools or resources to get the job done. Is that not the same today when we go out to work for our Lord Jesus? Jesus is just not going to send you out to work for Him and not have the tools to get the job done. So Jesus put things in place for His disciples, as He does for those of us who work for Him.
Now lets talk about the Donkey ... first a side note: If you get a chance, please be sure to look at a donkey; to this day they carry a cross on their backs. If you look, you will see that on a dark colored donkey it will have a light stripe going down over the neck, straight down the back to the tail, and then a stripe also across the shoulders of the animal. For a light color, the stripe is dark.
Now let's go to the scripture in Luke 19: 30: "which no one has ever ridden". Think of how important it was to our Lord Jesus to have this donkey colt that was never ridden. If we go to 1 Samuel 6: 7 you find that when the Ark of the Lord was being moved, it was put into a NEW CART and pulled with TWO COWS that had never been yoked. In Numbers 19: 2 you will find this. "This is a requirement of the law that the Lord has commanded: Tell the Israelites to bring you a red heifer without defect or blemish and that has never been under a yoke." Note please that nothing is used, it is without defect or blemish. It was to be perfect for God. Think of it, when Jesus was born, He was born to a virgin, a woman unused by a man. Do you see these things lining up? God wants to use us, and He wants us to go to work for Him telling the good News to all Creation, what He is telling me is that He wants us to go to work for Him, and go to work for Him clean. Since He has gone to the cross and died for us to clean us of sin, this is all adding up to me. Jesus wants all who work for Him, going to the sinners to talk to them about Jesus, He wants us to be prepared and part of that is to be clean. So today as we go to prayer and end the lesson for today, let's go clean.
Dear Father in Heaven, please hear our prayers as we ask to be cleaned of our sins. And Lord, we also ask that You open the hearts and minds of our President and his wife to come to You to be saved. Then Lord, bless his work as president of this nation. Please also bless our veterans, our current military personnel, their families, and all others who work to keep us safe and sound. Please also bless our leaders in our state house. In the name of Jesus, Amen.
Go forth now, staying clean of sin by repenting, and if and when you slip, go to God again and ask Him to forgive you. And remember to share your blessings ... love ya, dan.
Friday, March 27, 2009
Friday: Bankruptcy 5
"If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land."
Good Morning, my dear brothers and sisters, good morning to you. I love you and want to tell you that right up front this morning. It is Friday, the last Friday in March, and very foggy in our area this morning.
Today being Friday is the day we pray for all those who are working in the fields of Harvest for our Lord Jesus, those who go into the missions fields for Jesus. Brothers and sisters, please note that missions fields are not all in foreign lands, some are in our very own neighborhoods. As you know, our country is indeed in need of our Lord Jesus, and those working the fields of harvest are in need of our prayer support. PRAY, WARRIORS, PRAY.
Bankruptcy 5: As you know, all week I have been writing about our Nation being Morally Bankrupt. Today I am sending out to you a STIMULUS PACKAGE ... are you ready for this "Bailout Plan" for our bankrupt country?
Stimulus Package:
1: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Yes, by all means first we need to bring our Lord Jesus on location, for we cannot do anything to get our nation back on track without the "Big Three".
2: Bible. We need our Bibles and we need to read them, not park them on the coffee table or the night stand or on the car seat, we need to open them, and there we will find so much knowledge and so much that will stimulate this nation back on track. Things like the Commandments for God in Exodus and then those delivered in person by Jesus. Here is one that fits well on this "Bailout":
- 2 Chronicles 7: 14 -- "If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land." (NIV)
This is just one of so many scriptures in our Bible. If you are new and just getting started reading the Bible, may I suggest that you read the gospels first -- Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, and the reason is that Jesus is quoted most in those books. Then for me, I like Acts and Romans.
3: Daily Devotionals. Yes, those little books like, but not limited to: The Upper Room, Our Daily Bread, In Touch, etc ... These books if used each day will give you an insight from others and will also get you digging into the Bible.
4: Hymnals and Song Books. Yes, get a hymnal and open it and even if you don't sing, read the words of the songs. If you were a church person at one time and you have taken a walk from church, find some of those hymns that you once used. Read the words over and over. Here are some words from the hymn that I like most of all, "The Old Rugged Cross". I just want to go over a verse or two. Here is the location of the event ... you can picture it in your mind ... ready:
"On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross, the emblem of suffering and shame. And I love that old cross where the dearest and best for a world of lost sinners was slain."
This verse tells me that the hill was far away and that is where the cross stood, and that on that cross our dearest friend and the best person in the world was slain, and He was slain for all of us sinners, then after I found our Lord Jesus and brought Him into my heart, this last verse became personal.
"To the old rugged cross, I will ever be true, its shame and reproach (I'll) gladly bear; Then He'll call me someday to my home far away, where His glory forever I'll share."
You see I now love Jesus, who died on the cross, so it means I will be true to Jesus and I will stand by Him on or off the cross ... and I will stand and bear the shame of the cross with Him, for folks, it was for me (and you) that Jesus died on the cross. Then the song tells me, and it is supported in the Bible, that someday He will call me and I will be in His glory forever. Oh, and as a side note, all things told to you about Jesus, by a person, a pastor, a priest, or in songs, or by the singers, etc., all those things should be supported by the scriptures.
5: A church or place of worship. Folks, we need to start to bring our nation out of moral bankruptcy and it must start with us, but we need the support of a GOOD church or house of worship. I say a good one for there are some really bad churches out there today, and we need to stay clear of them, for it is partly their fault and the pastors who work those communities that are part of the problem this country has. For example, pastors and their flock going into gay parades and doing gay marriages is doing nothing but putting our Nation further into moral bankruptcy. So I encourage you to go to a good church, where the word is strong. I also encourage you to go to your pastor and ask to get a bailout plan started, a bailout plan that will help keep our Nation from going deeper and deeper in debt to sin and shame till we are 100% Morally Bankrupt as a Nation. Please remember that a good church requires good leaders, from the Pastor to all of his/her staff. I encourage all pastors who use this line to come up with a bailout plan for their church and how they will be sending out a stimulus package to others..
6: Gospel Concerts, etc. Yes folks, I learned so much from gospel singer. Guys like Doug Boyer, Duane Nicholson, Neil Enloe, Tim Beitzel, and Larry & Luella Hale have been an inspiration to me and have helped me over the years to stay on track. Pastors like Pastor Tony Mayaski, Pastor Jamie Klos, Pastor Kevin Brown, the late Pastor Karen Layman, Pastor Rich Cline and Pastor Rick Denison, worked pieces of my life into place. And there were many, many more. I had a group of bus drivers when I headed up the transportation department at Central Dauphin School District that would come to the office and pray. Folks, get out to a good gospel concert, lean back, and enjoy the word of song, enjoy the teachings coming between the songs, and the message at the end of the concerts.
7: Good Friends. You need to have good Christian friends, people who not just go out together or talk with each other, but people who are willing to pray with each other, and pray over meals when out in public. These strong Christian people should be people who are willing to work with you when you slip, and you should be willing to work with them when they slip.
8: Sharing Your Blessings. Remember yesterdays lesson when I wrote on robbing God? We need to share our blessings with others who need them even more. We need to support our church and our food banks, we need to not just recycle an old soda can, we need to recycle our clothes, and shoes, etc. Clean those closets and take those CLEAN good used clothes to Salvation Army or Goodwill Stores, etc. Share food with the food bank, and if you are one who draws on the food bank, remember to share some of what you get with another who is in need. And share your cooking with those who have trouble standing at a stove and cooking. You might be surprised at just how much this is appreciated by those who struggle just to stand and cook. And you also might share you services. Mow a lawn for someone, weed a garden for a neighbor. Cook a meal for a family who works. Think of it, you have worked hard all day, you pick up the kids on the way home, and you are almost home, and you are thinking, I must cook yet, and you get home and you find your dinner being handed to you by your neighbor. Here is your supper, you don't need to cook tonight. Yes, sharing your blessings has a lot to do with the STIMULUS PACKAGE of bringing our nation back from Moral Bankruptcy. And here's an idea: Share your Christian thinking with others. Gosh, I know someone who does that. And maybe you can do it also.
9: Prayer. Yes, talk to God often, talk to Him a lot, talk to Him at work, at play, while you are alone, with others. Know that God wants to hear from You.
10: Listen to God. Yes, dare I say this ... shut up and listen ... when you pray, when you talk to God, please take time to listen to Him. Pray about the Nation and how you can help them listen. Listen to the words of songs, listen to those singing, listen, listen, and listen even more. Do you know that YOUR EARS DON'T WORK WITH YOUR MOUTH OPEN. Hey, I just made that one up.. do you like it? "Your ears don't work with your mouth open." My quote of the day ...
Dear Father in Heaven, the Stimulus bailout plan for our Nation must be backed by You and You alone, we do not need millions, billions, or trillions of dollars, we just need the blood of Jesus to share with others and to spread over the land. Lord, send the power of the Holy Spirit over the United States of America as we need bailed out. We are morally bankrupt, Lord, and I for one do not like it at all. Lord, I want America back, the one we wanted to find for our religious undertakings. And now we have left it slip and slide and we are losing it. We want to be Morally Correct and not all that other corrections that people want. Your love we need to share, help us have at it Lord. In the name of Jesus, I pray, Amen.
Now go forth and help bail out the Nation. I am sick and tired of our Nation being Morally Bankrupt, and it is time we all do something about it. Join the fight, join the Christian Army, and of course go into battle for our Lord. And remember to get started today, not tomorrow. Share your blessings and get moving, share God's love ... do it at work today. Love ya, dan.
Good Morning, my dear brothers and sisters, good morning to you. I love you and want to tell you that right up front this morning. It is Friday, the last Friday in March, and very foggy in our area this morning.
Today being Friday is the day we pray for all those who are working in the fields of Harvest for our Lord Jesus, those who go into the missions fields for Jesus. Brothers and sisters, please note that missions fields are not all in foreign lands, some are in our very own neighborhoods. As you know, our country is indeed in need of our Lord Jesus, and those working the fields of harvest are in need of our prayer support. PRAY, WARRIORS, PRAY.
Bankruptcy 5: As you know, all week I have been writing about our Nation being Morally Bankrupt. Today I am sending out to you a STIMULUS PACKAGE ... are you ready for this "Bailout Plan" for our bankrupt country?
Stimulus Package:
1: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Yes, by all means first we need to bring our Lord Jesus on location, for we cannot do anything to get our nation back on track without the "Big Three".
2: Bible. We need our Bibles and we need to read them, not park them on the coffee table or the night stand or on the car seat, we need to open them, and there we will find so much knowledge and so much that will stimulate this nation back on track. Things like the Commandments for God in Exodus and then those delivered in person by Jesus. Here is one that fits well on this "Bailout":
- 2 Chronicles 7: 14 -- "If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land." (NIV)
This is just one of so many scriptures in our Bible. If you are new and just getting started reading the Bible, may I suggest that you read the gospels first -- Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, and the reason is that Jesus is quoted most in those books. Then for me, I like Acts and Romans.
3: Daily Devotionals. Yes, those little books like, but not limited to: The Upper Room, Our Daily Bread, In Touch, etc ... These books if used each day will give you an insight from others and will also get you digging into the Bible.
4: Hymnals and Song Books. Yes, get a hymnal and open it and even if you don't sing, read the words of the songs. If you were a church person at one time and you have taken a walk from church, find some of those hymns that you once used. Read the words over and over. Here are some words from the hymn that I like most of all, "The Old Rugged Cross". I just want to go over a verse or two. Here is the location of the event ... you can picture it in your mind ... ready:
"On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross, the emblem of suffering and shame. And I love that old cross where the dearest and best for a world of lost sinners was slain."
This verse tells me that the hill was far away and that is where the cross stood, and that on that cross our dearest friend and the best person in the world was slain, and He was slain for all of us sinners, then after I found our Lord Jesus and brought Him into my heart, this last verse became personal.
"To the old rugged cross, I will ever be true, its shame and reproach (I'll) gladly bear; Then He'll call me someday to my home far away, where His glory forever I'll share."
You see I now love Jesus, who died on the cross, so it means I will be true to Jesus and I will stand by Him on or off the cross ... and I will stand and bear the shame of the cross with Him, for folks, it was for me (and you) that Jesus died on the cross. Then the song tells me, and it is supported in the Bible, that someday He will call me and I will be in His glory forever. Oh, and as a side note, all things told to you about Jesus, by a person, a pastor, a priest, or in songs, or by the singers, etc., all those things should be supported by the scriptures.
5: A church or place of worship. Folks, we need to start to bring our nation out of moral bankruptcy and it must start with us, but we need the support of a GOOD church or house of worship. I say a good one for there are some really bad churches out there today, and we need to stay clear of them, for it is partly their fault and the pastors who work those communities that are part of the problem this country has. For example, pastors and their flock going into gay parades and doing gay marriages is doing nothing but putting our Nation further into moral bankruptcy. So I encourage you to go to a good church, where the word is strong. I also encourage you to go to your pastor and ask to get a bailout plan started, a bailout plan that will help keep our Nation from going deeper and deeper in debt to sin and shame till we are 100% Morally Bankrupt as a Nation. Please remember that a good church requires good leaders, from the Pastor to all of his/her staff. I encourage all pastors who use this line to come up with a bailout plan for their church and how they will be sending out a stimulus package to others..
6: Gospel Concerts, etc. Yes folks, I learned so much from gospel singer. Guys like Doug Boyer, Duane Nicholson, Neil Enloe, Tim Beitzel, and Larry & Luella Hale have been an inspiration to me and have helped me over the years to stay on track. Pastors like Pastor Tony Mayaski, Pastor Jamie Klos, Pastor Kevin Brown, the late Pastor Karen Layman, Pastor Rich Cline and Pastor Rick Denison, worked pieces of my life into place. And there were many, many more. I had a group of bus drivers when I headed up the transportation department at Central Dauphin School District that would come to the office and pray. Folks, get out to a good gospel concert, lean back, and enjoy the word of song, enjoy the teachings coming between the songs, and the message at the end of the concerts.
7: Good Friends. You need to have good Christian friends, people who not just go out together or talk with each other, but people who are willing to pray with each other, and pray over meals when out in public. These strong Christian people should be people who are willing to work with you when you slip, and you should be willing to work with them when they slip.
8: Sharing Your Blessings. Remember yesterdays lesson when I wrote on robbing God? We need to share our blessings with others who need them even more. We need to support our church and our food banks, we need to not just recycle an old soda can, we need to recycle our clothes, and shoes, etc. Clean those closets and take those CLEAN good used clothes to Salvation Army or Goodwill Stores, etc. Share food with the food bank, and if you are one who draws on the food bank, remember to share some of what you get with another who is in need. And share your cooking with those who have trouble standing at a stove and cooking. You might be surprised at just how much this is appreciated by those who struggle just to stand and cook. And you also might share you services. Mow a lawn for someone, weed a garden for a neighbor. Cook a meal for a family who works. Think of it, you have worked hard all day, you pick up the kids on the way home, and you are almost home, and you are thinking, I must cook yet, and you get home and you find your dinner being handed to you by your neighbor. Here is your supper, you don't need to cook tonight. Yes, sharing your blessings has a lot to do with the STIMULUS PACKAGE of bringing our nation back from Moral Bankruptcy. And here's an idea: Share your Christian thinking with others. Gosh, I know someone who does that. And maybe you can do it also.
9: Prayer. Yes, talk to God often, talk to Him a lot, talk to Him at work, at play, while you are alone, with others. Know that God wants to hear from You.
10: Listen to God. Yes, dare I say this ... shut up and listen ... when you pray, when you talk to God, please take time to listen to Him. Pray about the Nation and how you can help them listen. Listen to the words of songs, listen to those singing, listen, listen, and listen even more. Do you know that YOUR EARS DON'T WORK WITH YOUR MOUTH OPEN. Hey, I just made that one up.. do you like it? "Your ears don't work with your mouth open." My quote of the day ...
Dear Father in Heaven, the Stimulus bailout plan for our Nation must be backed by You and You alone, we do not need millions, billions, or trillions of dollars, we just need the blood of Jesus to share with others and to spread over the land. Lord, send the power of the Holy Spirit over the United States of America as we need bailed out. We are morally bankrupt, Lord, and I for one do not like it at all. Lord, I want America back, the one we wanted to find for our religious undertakings. And now we have left it slip and slide and we are losing it. We want to be Morally Correct and not all that other corrections that people want. Your love we need to share, help us have at it Lord. In the name of Jesus, I pray, Amen.
Now go forth and help bail out the Nation. I am sick and tired of our Nation being Morally Bankrupt, and it is time we all do something about it. Join the fight, join the Christian Army, and of course go into battle for our Lord. And remember to get started today, not tomorrow. Share your blessings and get moving, share God's love ... do it at work today. Love ya, dan.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Thursday: Bankruptcy 4
"You are under a curse, the whole nation of you, because you are robbing me." (God)
Good Morning, my dear brothers and sisters. It is a beautiful morning here at the Southern Location of the North Pole. Rain is expected and really needed, and praise the Lord we do not need to shovel the rain. Today is Thursday and family day on this line. Please pray today for the Orner Family, the Lehman family, the Ogden family, our online family, and most of all, the family of God. Pray for peace, healing, and salvation.
Bankruptcy 4. As I talk this week about our Nation going morally bankrupt, here is just another reason why ... WE ARE STEALING FROM GOD, and I did use the term we, meaning you and me. It is bad enough that people break God's commandment and steal, but we are stealing from God. People who would never think of stealing a thing, people who would find a dollar in front of a store and take it into the store and turn it in, some of those very same people steal right from God. And you are saying, what the hum are you talking about, Pastor Dan? Well, brothers and sisters, read up.
Malachi 3: 8: Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. "But you ask, 'How do we rob you?" "In tithes and offerings. 9 "You are under a curse the whole nation of you because you are robbing me. 10 Bring the WHOLE tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. TEST ME IN THIS," says the Lord Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it." 11 I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit, says the Lord Almighty. 12 Then all the nations will call you blessed for yours will be a delightful land says the Lord Almighty. (NIV)
Now folks you can see why our nation is in big, big dollar trouble. We have drifted from God morally and we have drifted from Him with the trust of our blessings ... our wealth ... I want you to note something here folks. Our Lord has told us Not to test Him. Luke 4 12: Jesus answered, "It says 'Do not put your Lord your God to the test.'" (NIV) However in the book of Malachi, chapter 3, in verse 10, "Test me in this, says the Lord Almighty." (NIV)
My friends, if you are down to your last dollar and want to make it count the most, give it to God. I have had even some in my family tell me that when they are done paying the bills there is nothing left to give to the work of our Lord. And I tell them they must do it the other way around. Give to God off the top and you will find it makes a difference.
Yes, I think our nation is going morally bankrupt, and this week I have been going over the reasons I think it is a fact ... from killing our unborn children, to drugs and prostitution, to our elected officials stealing from us, to investment brokers you trusted your dollars to not putting them back for you ... to the drug addict walking into a store or a bank and sticking it up, to out and out robbing from God, and I am not talking about breaking into a church to do this. In fact, dare I bring this out? When we have a person going around breaking into churches and we get them once in a while, the news media will interview pastors and others and they always say how it is so sad to steal from God by robbing the church ... daaaaaaaa, while breaking into the church building to steal might get you time in jail, in the eyes of God, robbing from Him is a sin, regardless if it is by breaking into a building or just not turning over to Him your tithes and offerings. You see, when we go against God, regardless of how, it will put us into bankruptcy. Tomorrow, digging out of bankruptcy. We are coming back, we, must start saving our Nation. Join me tomorrow and let's get started.
Dear Father in Heaven, I confess that I am a thief, not always turning over all I should to You. Forgive me, dear Lord, and please forgive others today as they ask. And yes, Lord, as we do share our blessings, I ask that You pour out Heavens gates upon us. Bless the shelves in homes that they might have more food, bless the closets of those who need clothes, bless hearts that need healing, and bless all those sharing their blessings. And Lord, bless families, all of them. And help us to work with Your people, leading them into Your arms. And yes, Lord, I pray for our Nation today. Lord, thanks for the message, and Lord put me on fire as I ready for the message tomorrow, and open hearts and minds to hear it ... In the name of Jesus, Amen.
No go forth, sharing your blessings, and giving God what is His, and you will be blessed, you really, really will. Please share from the top, not from the "leftovers", for all so often there are no leftovers ... Love ya, dan.
Good Morning, my dear brothers and sisters. It is a beautiful morning here at the Southern Location of the North Pole. Rain is expected and really needed, and praise the Lord we do not need to shovel the rain. Today is Thursday and family day on this line. Please pray today for the Orner Family, the Lehman family, the Ogden family, our online family, and most of all, the family of God. Pray for peace, healing, and salvation.
Bankruptcy 4. As I talk this week about our Nation going morally bankrupt, here is just another reason why ... WE ARE STEALING FROM GOD, and I did use the term we, meaning you and me. It is bad enough that people break God's commandment and steal, but we are stealing from God. People who would never think of stealing a thing, people who would find a dollar in front of a store and take it into the store and turn it in, some of those very same people steal right from God. And you are saying, what the hum are you talking about, Pastor Dan? Well, brothers and sisters, read up.
Malachi 3: 8: Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. "But you ask, 'How do we rob you?" "In tithes and offerings. 9 "You are under a curse the whole nation of you because you are robbing me. 10 Bring the WHOLE tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. TEST ME IN THIS," says the Lord Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it." 11 I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit, says the Lord Almighty. 12 Then all the nations will call you blessed for yours will be a delightful land says the Lord Almighty. (NIV)
Now folks you can see why our nation is in big, big dollar trouble. We have drifted from God morally and we have drifted from Him with the trust of our blessings ... our wealth ... I want you to note something here folks. Our Lord has told us Not to test Him. Luke 4 12: Jesus answered, "It says 'Do not put your Lord your God to the test.'" (NIV) However in the book of Malachi, chapter 3, in verse 10, "Test me in this, says the Lord Almighty." (NIV)
My friends, if you are down to your last dollar and want to make it count the most, give it to God. I have had even some in my family tell me that when they are done paying the bills there is nothing left to give to the work of our Lord. And I tell them they must do it the other way around. Give to God off the top and you will find it makes a difference.
Yes, I think our nation is going morally bankrupt, and this week I have been going over the reasons I think it is a fact ... from killing our unborn children, to drugs and prostitution, to our elected officials stealing from us, to investment brokers you trusted your dollars to not putting them back for you ... to the drug addict walking into a store or a bank and sticking it up, to out and out robbing from God, and I am not talking about breaking into a church to do this. In fact, dare I bring this out? When we have a person going around breaking into churches and we get them once in a while, the news media will interview pastors and others and they always say how it is so sad to steal from God by robbing the church ... daaaaaaaa, while breaking into the church building to steal might get you time in jail, in the eyes of God, robbing from Him is a sin, regardless if it is by breaking into a building or just not turning over to Him your tithes and offerings. You see, when we go against God, regardless of how, it will put us into bankruptcy. Tomorrow, digging out of bankruptcy. We are coming back, we, must start saving our Nation. Join me tomorrow and let's get started.
Dear Father in Heaven, I confess that I am a thief, not always turning over all I should to You. Forgive me, dear Lord, and please forgive others today as they ask. And yes, Lord, as we do share our blessings, I ask that You pour out Heavens gates upon us. Bless the shelves in homes that they might have more food, bless the closets of those who need clothes, bless hearts that need healing, and bless all those sharing their blessings. And Lord, bless families, all of them. And help us to work with Your people, leading them into Your arms. And yes, Lord, I pray for our Nation today. Lord, thanks for the message, and Lord put me on fire as I ready for the message tomorrow, and open hearts and minds to hear it ... In the name of Jesus, Amen.
No go forth, sharing your blessings, and giving God what is His, and you will be blessed, you really, really will. Please share from the top, not from the "leftovers", for all so often there are no leftovers ... Love ya, dan.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Wednesday: Bankruptcy 3
You shall not murder! You shall not commit adultery! You shall not steal! You shall not give false testimony!
Good Morning, my dear brothers and sisters. It is Salvation Wednesday on this line, the day we pray for our Lord to show us to those who are unsaved so we may help bring them to Jesus.
Also prayer today for Brother John and Brother Bruce for healing, for Bob to have his transportation needs set up by CAT, for Jim Orner who is praying for a different job. For the ------- family and the brother who is on a "tilt" and has threatened other family members (I withheld names here). Prayers for healing for "Mazie" who has had some small strokes.
Bankruptcy 3: I have been writing about how I think our country is going morally bankrupt. This is, of course, my opinion here. I think we are almost at the point like in the days before the big flood. Yesterday I gave you some homework for today. I asked you to go to the phone book yellow pages and tell me what the first ad in the book was for. All who answered gave the same answer ... Abortion.
Why, I think we need to run ads in the yellow pages saying, bank robber for hire, or professional liar for hire. Of course I am not serious on that, but why not? I mean here we are in the greatest country of all and we DOCTORS ADVERTISE FOR MURDER ... and yes, abortion is out and out murder, and that has been proved in court many times. A mother with child is shot and both the mother and the unborn baby die - two counts of murder. So does that not tell you that it is murder even in our morally bankrupt thinking? At least in our phone book there is an ad for Abortion Alternatives that lists people who will help try and save the child's life. One ad is really sick, it advertises NO WAITING. Come right in and get the murder done with no waiting.
Now some will ask when does life start, and the bible tells us that God knew us before we were in the womb. Folks, the morning after pill is murder. Schools are handing out condoms which to me is like telling the kids, sex is ok, just put on the condom and have at it ... wrong. Recently I sat beside a lady on her death bed at a Hospice Home. She was a nurse and spent the last nine years working an abortion clinic, and she was proud of it. Even on her death bed she was thinking this was ok. I am not the judge on this, but if you are confessing sins to God before you die, and you are taking one of the commands that you broke daily for over nine years and saying it was ok. I prayed for her soul and prayed with her and suggested she had better be thinking about this before she passes. She has now passed and as always it becomes between Jesus and us, it is personal.
This morning on the news, and I did not hear the exact location, but a town is placing a tax on prostitution, they are placing a $5.00 tax on this sex act. A branch of our government which has already made it legal is now going to put a tax on it. Listen to these words from Exodus 20: 13 - You shall not murder. 14 You shall not commit adultery 15 You shall not steal.
17 You shall not give false testimony.
Now I want you to think about these and just think about what has happened in Washington just lately. Look at the one about giving false testimony. How many of the leaders in Washington have been lying about not knowing things? I think there is a thing in this country when it comes to those law makers that it might be who lies the least. Folks, we are going down the tube ...
People are lining up wanting stimulus money. Tomorrow I am going to tell you where to get stimulus money and how to get back on track and what the people of the United States of America must do to turn this country around. Please be with me as we look at the very best "Stimulus Package". Oh, and there is money involved in this.
Dear Father in Heaven, Our nation is in trouble and the money might be the root of the problem, but I don't think it is nearly all of it. We advertise in the papers and the yellow pages on how, when, and where a person can break a commandment, and we seem to think it is ok. Lord forgive us, forgive this nation, forgive us as we are laying face down in the pigpen. Lord, how we need to come to You, how we need to Humble ourselves as a Nation of people. Lord, today I pray that You will use us to reach out to the unsaved and to help them come to You. Start us out clean, start me out clean as I pray that You will forgive our sins, my sins. Lord, forgive Your children once again ... Lord help us, help us. In the name of Jesus, I pray for those on our prayer list today, and please Lord be with the Ogdens. In the name of Jesus , Amen.
Go forth, sharing your blessings, and brothers and sisters, if we are going to turn this country around, it must start with each one of us, and us means you and me ... us, Christian brothers and sisters, and real Christians. We can still save this Nation. It is time for a Christian Stimulus Package. Be here tomorrow as we start planning our Stimulus Bill. And yes, sharing our blessings is a big part of it ... so get started ... stimulate someone today..... love ya, dan.
Good Morning, my dear brothers and sisters. It is Salvation Wednesday on this line, the day we pray for our Lord to show us to those who are unsaved so we may help bring them to Jesus.
Also prayer today for Brother John and Brother Bruce for healing, for Bob to have his transportation needs set up by CAT, for Jim Orner who is praying for a different job. For the ------- family and the brother who is on a "tilt" and has threatened other family members (I withheld names here). Prayers for healing for "Mazie" who has had some small strokes.
Bankruptcy 3: I have been writing about how I think our country is going morally bankrupt. This is, of course, my opinion here. I think we are almost at the point like in the days before the big flood. Yesterday I gave you some homework for today. I asked you to go to the phone book yellow pages and tell me what the first ad in the book was for. All who answered gave the same answer ... Abortion.
Why, I think we need to run ads in the yellow pages saying, bank robber for hire, or professional liar for hire. Of course I am not serious on that, but why not? I mean here we are in the greatest country of all and we DOCTORS ADVERTISE FOR MURDER ... and yes, abortion is out and out murder, and that has been proved in court many times. A mother with child is shot and both the mother and the unborn baby die - two counts of murder. So does that not tell you that it is murder even in our morally bankrupt thinking? At least in our phone book there is an ad for Abortion Alternatives that lists people who will help try and save the child's life. One ad is really sick, it advertises NO WAITING. Come right in and get the murder done with no waiting.
Now some will ask when does life start, and the bible tells us that God knew us before we were in the womb. Folks, the morning after pill is murder. Schools are handing out condoms which to me is like telling the kids, sex is ok, just put on the condom and have at it ... wrong. Recently I sat beside a lady on her death bed at a Hospice Home. She was a nurse and spent the last nine years working an abortion clinic, and she was proud of it. Even on her death bed she was thinking this was ok. I am not the judge on this, but if you are confessing sins to God before you die, and you are taking one of the commands that you broke daily for over nine years and saying it was ok. I prayed for her soul and prayed with her and suggested she had better be thinking about this before she passes. She has now passed and as always it becomes between Jesus and us, it is personal.
This morning on the news, and I did not hear the exact location, but a town is placing a tax on prostitution, they are placing a $5.00 tax on this sex act. A branch of our government which has already made it legal is now going to put a tax on it. Listen to these words from Exodus 20: 13 - You shall not murder. 14 You shall not commit adultery 15 You shall not steal.
17 You shall not give false testimony.
Now I want you to think about these and just think about what has happened in Washington just lately. Look at the one about giving false testimony. How many of the leaders in Washington have been lying about not knowing things? I think there is a thing in this country when it comes to those law makers that it might be who lies the least. Folks, we are going down the tube ...
People are lining up wanting stimulus money. Tomorrow I am going to tell you where to get stimulus money and how to get back on track and what the people of the United States of America must do to turn this country around. Please be with me as we look at the very best "Stimulus Package". Oh, and there is money involved in this.
Dear Father in Heaven, Our nation is in trouble and the money might be the root of the problem, but I don't think it is nearly all of it. We advertise in the papers and the yellow pages on how, when, and where a person can break a commandment, and we seem to think it is ok. Lord forgive us, forgive this nation, forgive us as we are laying face down in the pigpen. Lord, how we need to come to You, how we need to Humble ourselves as a Nation of people. Lord, today I pray that You will use us to reach out to the unsaved and to help them come to You. Start us out clean, start me out clean as I pray that You will forgive our sins, my sins. Lord, forgive Your children once again ... Lord help us, help us. In the name of Jesus, I pray for those on our prayer list today, and please Lord be with the Ogdens. In the name of Jesus , Amen.
Go forth, sharing your blessings, and brothers and sisters, if we are going to turn this country around, it must start with each one of us, and us means you and me ... us, Christian brothers and sisters, and real Christians. We can still save this Nation. It is time for a Christian Stimulus Package. Be here tomorrow as we start planning our Stimulus Bill. And yes, sharing our blessings is a big part of it ... so get started ... stimulate someone today..... love ya, dan.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Tuesday: Bankruptcy 2
"If my people, who are called by My Name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and will heal their land."
GOOD MORNING, Good Morning, it is a beautiful morning. Do you get up in the morning and say, Good Morning God? OR do you get up in the morning and say, Good God, it is Morning? Do you know that each and every one of us, meaning you and me, have an attitude? Yes, all people have an attitude, and they are pretty much all different. Think about yours; in the near future we are going to talk about attitudes and how they can make a difference on your life ... even your health!
School days, school days, dear old golden rule days, reading and writing and arithmetic, taught to the tune of a hickory stick ... Yes, today is schools day on this line, the day we pray for all of our schools and all who go through the doors, and all who board those yellow buses. What might be missing in our schools today? Yes, Jesus, prayer, and maybe, just maybe that old hickory stick. Put them back in and our schools would shape up. Until then, warriors, keep praying and sending your children, grandchildren and all others you know to school with the knowledge of our Lord Jesus and how to be a good witness in a place that really needs it ... OUR SCHOOLS.
BANKRUPTCY 2: 2 Chronicles 7: 14 "If my people, who are called by My Name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and will heal their land." (NIV)
My dear brothers and sisters, businesses may or may not be bankrupt, but there is no doubt in my mind that for the most part our country is bankrupt, and I am not talking about money here. No, I really think our country is for the most part MORALLY BANKRUPT. Down the old tube as we say, and speaking of the old tube, maybe that had a lot to do with it.
When I write about this, and folks, this morally bankrupt country of ours cannot be blamed on any one president or leader, I want to put the blame squarely where it belongs ... yes, our country is going morally bankrupt due in part to all of us. WHAT, you and me cause moral bankruptcy to our nation? Well folks, if we are not doing anything about the problem, then we are part of the problem. I want you to think about this. Let me start with an eating place that you can even take your family - Hooters. Where the waitresses get half naked to get better tips. A few years back, maybe 6 or 7 years, I had one of my old cars in a car show. Two "Hooters" girls were there going from car to car getting their pictures taken (for a price) in front of those collectors cars. When they came to me I guess I spoke out of turn, for I not only turned them down, I said I do not deal in prostitution, and that did not go over well. But facts are facts, even though the money was going to charity, I just figured that when a woman or a man sold their body for money it was prostitution. I would appreciate your thinking on this. I heard from a lot of people that day, and was told to "get a life". Well folks, I have a life NOW, for I now have Jesus in my life.
If you get a good hot rod or custom motorcycle magazine, you will find a lot of the cars and bikes have a half nude woman in the picture. Believe it or not, when I look at the books, I want to see the cars and bikes. Anyway, let me get back to our Nation and some other reasons why I think it is going morally bankrupt. While one might expect that we find some of the things I just mentioned at beaches, in bars, etc., but not in an eating place that permits families. Tomorrow I am going to go deeper into this subject. For homework, I want you to go to your phone book, turn to the yellow pages, and tell me what ad jumps out at you in the very, very beginning of the yellow pages. I am not going to tell you anything other then it starts with A, and if you have a phone book with yellow pages you will find it, and it is one of the reasons you will find us going downhill in a hurry.
Remember this ... God destroyed the earth and all in it except for Noah and those on the boat, and of course the birds in the air above the flood, and the fish of the sea. MAN BIT THE DUST, OR IN THIS CASE, DRANK THE FLOOD WATER. WHY, we will look at it tomorrow when I will go deeper into this subject. Here are some more questions ... What about government, is it going morally bankrupt? And what about some churches? What, dare I say some of them might be just that!
Dear Father in Heaven, please, please watch over our kids in our schools and watch over all who work there, and all who go through the doors. Lord, we want You back in our schools, in fact we want to make them Your schools for in them are "children of God". Oh yes, Lord, and we want all in the schools to know You, not just know of You, but know You. Lord, thanks for the message, and please Lord help me with the rest of this series. Lord, keep Pastor Charles in Your arms as we ask for healing so He can preach again. In the name of Jesus, I ask for help for our nation to keep us from going full belly up bankrupt. In the name of Jesus, Amen.
Go forth, and remember that homework, look in those yellow pages, and folks, please remember to share your blessings. And also remember to support your local food bank ... the poor and hungry eat year round, not just at Christmas. I know that shelves at our pantry are looking empty... and families keep coming. Now share those blessings. love ya, dan.
GOOD MORNING, Good Morning, it is a beautiful morning. Do you get up in the morning and say, Good Morning God? OR do you get up in the morning and say, Good God, it is Morning? Do you know that each and every one of us, meaning you and me, have an attitude? Yes, all people have an attitude, and they are pretty much all different. Think about yours; in the near future we are going to talk about attitudes and how they can make a difference on your life ... even your health!
School days, school days, dear old golden rule days, reading and writing and arithmetic, taught to the tune of a hickory stick ... Yes, today is schools day on this line, the day we pray for all of our schools and all who go through the doors, and all who board those yellow buses. What might be missing in our schools today? Yes, Jesus, prayer, and maybe, just maybe that old hickory stick. Put them back in and our schools would shape up. Until then, warriors, keep praying and sending your children, grandchildren and all others you know to school with the knowledge of our Lord Jesus and how to be a good witness in a place that really needs it ... OUR SCHOOLS.
BANKRUPTCY 2: 2 Chronicles 7: 14 "If my people, who are called by My Name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and will heal their land." (NIV)
My dear brothers and sisters, businesses may or may not be bankrupt, but there is no doubt in my mind that for the most part our country is bankrupt, and I am not talking about money here. No, I really think our country is for the most part MORALLY BANKRUPT. Down the old tube as we say, and speaking of the old tube, maybe that had a lot to do with it.
When I write about this, and folks, this morally bankrupt country of ours cannot be blamed on any one president or leader, I want to put the blame squarely where it belongs ... yes, our country is going morally bankrupt due in part to all of us. WHAT, you and me cause moral bankruptcy to our nation? Well folks, if we are not doing anything about the problem, then we are part of the problem. I want you to think about this. Let me start with an eating place that you can even take your family - Hooters. Where the waitresses get half naked to get better tips. A few years back, maybe 6 or 7 years, I had one of my old cars in a car show. Two "Hooters" girls were there going from car to car getting their pictures taken (for a price) in front of those collectors cars. When they came to me I guess I spoke out of turn, for I not only turned them down, I said I do not deal in prostitution, and that did not go over well. But facts are facts, even though the money was going to charity, I just figured that when a woman or a man sold their body for money it was prostitution. I would appreciate your thinking on this. I heard from a lot of people that day, and was told to "get a life". Well folks, I have a life NOW, for I now have Jesus in my life.
If you get a good hot rod or custom motorcycle magazine, you will find a lot of the cars and bikes have a half nude woman in the picture. Believe it or not, when I look at the books, I want to see the cars and bikes. Anyway, let me get back to our Nation and some other reasons why I think it is going morally bankrupt. While one might expect that we find some of the things I just mentioned at beaches, in bars, etc., but not in an eating place that permits families. Tomorrow I am going to go deeper into this subject. For homework, I want you to go to your phone book, turn to the yellow pages, and tell me what ad jumps out at you in the very, very beginning of the yellow pages. I am not going to tell you anything other then it starts with A, and if you have a phone book with yellow pages you will find it, and it is one of the reasons you will find us going downhill in a hurry.
Remember this ... God destroyed the earth and all in it except for Noah and those on the boat, and of course the birds in the air above the flood, and the fish of the sea. MAN BIT THE DUST, OR IN THIS CASE, DRANK THE FLOOD WATER. WHY, we will look at it tomorrow when I will go deeper into this subject. Here are some more questions ... What about government, is it going morally bankrupt? And what about some churches? What, dare I say some of them might be just that!
Dear Father in Heaven, please, please watch over our kids in our schools and watch over all who work there, and all who go through the doors. Lord, we want You back in our schools, in fact we want to make them Your schools for in them are "children of God". Oh yes, Lord, and we want all in the schools to know You, not just know of You, but know You. Lord, thanks for the message, and please Lord help me with the rest of this series. Lord, keep Pastor Charles in Your arms as we ask for healing so He can preach again. In the name of Jesus, I ask for help for our nation to keep us from going full belly up bankrupt. In the name of Jesus, Amen.
Go forth, and remember that homework, look in those yellow pages, and folks, please remember to share your blessings. And also remember to support your local food bank ... the poor and hungry eat year round, not just at Christmas. I know that shelves at our pantry are looking empty... and families keep coming. Now share those blessings. love ya, dan.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Monday: Bankruptcy
Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people He chose for His inheritance.
Good Morning, my brothers and sisters. What a great morning here at the Southern Location of the North Pole. It is Monday and the day we pray for our leaders in Washington and in our State and Local Governments. It is also the day we pray for our veterans, our current military, our police, firefighters, and all others who work to keep us safe. Please pray today for comfort for the family of Helen Cerny. Helen would have been 95 on Easter Sunday, and was the mother of prayer warrior Sharon Ogden, so we ask prayers for Sharon and her husband Oliver. We are sad today, but we rejoice in her crossing over to the other side, to her homecoming with Jesus. Prayers also today for Faye Beard. Faye is scheduled for back surgery. She had been in a bad automobile accident some time back.
Bankruptcy: In our local paper, they list those who file bankruptcy papers. Some of them file to regroup and pay people back, others just file and walk away from what is owed. For about six months now, we have been hearing about these big companies that are telling our leaders in Washington, if we do not get help, we are going to go bankrupt. Companies like AIG and those big lenders like Freddy Mac and Fannie Mae, and even the big auto maker General Motors. I personally think all of this was caused by our news media wanting to hurt former President Bush, but that is for another time and not on this line. Anyway it was not all that long ago that our dear Congress wanted to add extra tax on companies that were doing well, like Exxon/Mobile and Texaco/Shell and others ... go and take their money and give it to those who will not work and to companies like General Motors ... and so it goes.
People who have been trusted with taxpayers dollars have been using them for high priced trips and bonus dollars for the big wigs. Now our Congress wants to tax those people 90% of their salaries. Scary times I would think. China is lending us money, at the same time was it not China who have made products that have hurt or killed our children? And who can forget the dog food problems. Dolores and I lost five of our dogs with that junk food.
Bankruptcy: The real problem as I see it is not that we are dollar bankrupt, dare I say it, that I feel that our nation has gone morally bankrupt. Who has forgotten what happened in the oval office just ten or so years ago? And who can forget about the one man who is back on TV like nothing happened talking about what Bush did wrong and what President Obama is doing wrong when he himself had to give us his job as speaker of the house? While we need to forgive all of these people, our nation needs to get on their knees and humble to our Lord God.
Our nation's leaders and those who hate our Lord have had fights in court to take In God We Trust off the money, had fights to take the prayers and Bible out of our schools. And coaches can no longer lead a prayer in a huddle before a game. YES, I THINK OUR NATION NEEDS TO FILE BANKRUPTCY PAPERS. So how do we file them? How does a country file bankruptcy papers before it is too late? Well, watch the line this week as I try and go over this. Pray about this with me and pray about it for me. I want to try and answer a few questions, some like this ...
- Will the money being given out by Washington help or hurt our nation?
- Will our Nation bow down to our Lord, or will we keep bowing to the almighty dollar?
- Will our President turn to God and humble himself to our Lord? (Brothers and sisters, as we pray for our leaders today, please, please pray for President Obama to be "Born Again") If this man fails at being president, shame on him, but if his soul is lost, SHAME ON US for not helping him.
Dear Lord, Father of this great nation. We are going bankrupt as a nation because we have turned away from You. Help us to come back, help us to come back to You for leadership before it is to late and our nation fails completely. Lord, have mercy on this nation. Bless our leaders and please take from office those who will not come to You. Turn our nation's leaders to You, and not just for these hard times, but for all time and for day-to-day operation. Lord, protect our military who right now seem to be fighting a war that even the commander-in-chief is putting them down for. Lord, thanks for a military that has men and women who still stand for freedom and in the most part support You. Lord help them, and Lord, give our veterans special blessings and bring them home safe and soon. And Lord, be with Faye during her surgery and healing. Lord bless Sharon and Oliver as they suffer the loss of Sharon's mother. And Lord, please bless the USA ... In the name of Jesus I pray, Amen.
Go forth, sharing your blessings and praying hard for this nation to come back from moral bankruptcy, for we are at the door ... love ya, dan.
Good Morning, my brothers and sisters. What a great morning here at the Southern Location of the North Pole. It is Monday and the day we pray for our leaders in Washington and in our State and Local Governments. It is also the day we pray for our veterans, our current military, our police, firefighters, and all others who work to keep us safe. Please pray today for comfort for the family of Helen Cerny. Helen would have been 95 on Easter Sunday, and was the mother of prayer warrior Sharon Ogden, so we ask prayers for Sharon and her husband Oliver. We are sad today, but we rejoice in her crossing over to the other side, to her homecoming with Jesus. Prayers also today for Faye Beard. Faye is scheduled for back surgery. She had been in a bad automobile accident some time back.
Bankruptcy: In our local paper, they list those who file bankruptcy papers. Some of them file to regroup and pay people back, others just file and walk away from what is owed. For about six months now, we have been hearing about these big companies that are telling our leaders in Washington, if we do not get help, we are going to go bankrupt. Companies like AIG and those big lenders like Freddy Mac and Fannie Mae, and even the big auto maker General Motors. I personally think all of this was caused by our news media wanting to hurt former President Bush, but that is for another time and not on this line. Anyway it was not all that long ago that our dear Congress wanted to add extra tax on companies that were doing well, like Exxon/Mobile and Texaco/Shell and others ... go and take their money and give it to those who will not work and to companies like General Motors ... and so it goes.
People who have been trusted with taxpayers dollars have been using them for high priced trips and bonus dollars for the big wigs. Now our Congress wants to tax those people 90% of their salaries. Scary times I would think. China is lending us money, at the same time was it not China who have made products that have hurt or killed our children? And who can forget the dog food problems. Dolores and I lost five of our dogs with that junk food.
Bankruptcy: The real problem as I see it is not that we are dollar bankrupt, dare I say it, that I feel that our nation has gone morally bankrupt. Who has forgotten what happened in the oval office just ten or so years ago? And who can forget about the one man who is back on TV like nothing happened talking about what Bush did wrong and what President Obama is doing wrong when he himself had to give us his job as speaker of the house? While we need to forgive all of these people, our nation needs to get on their knees and humble to our Lord God.
Our nation's leaders and those who hate our Lord have had fights in court to take In God We Trust off the money, had fights to take the prayers and Bible out of our schools. And coaches can no longer lead a prayer in a huddle before a game. YES, I THINK OUR NATION NEEDS TO FILE BANKRUPTCY PAPERS. So how do we file them? How does a country file bankruptcy papers before it is too late? Well, watch the line this week as I try and go over this. Pray about this with me and pray about it for me. I want to try and answer a few questions, some like this ...
- Will the money being given out by Washington help or hurt our nation?
- Will our Nation bow down to our Lord, or will we keep bowing to the almighty dollar?
- Will our President turn to God and humble himself to our Lord? (Brothers and sisters, as we pray for our leaders today, please, please pray for President Obama to be "Born Again") If this man fails at being president, shame on him, but if his soul is lost, SHAME ON US for not helping him.
Dear Lord, Father of this great nation. We are going bankrupt as a nation because we have turned away from You. Help us to come back, help us to come back to You for leadership before it is to late and our nation fails completely. Lord, have mercy on this nation. Bless our leaders and please take from office those who will not come to You. Turn our nation's leaders to You, and not just for these hard times, but for all time and for day-to-day operation. Lord, protect our military who right now seem to be fighting a war that even the commander-in-chief is putting them down for. Lord, thanks for a military that has men and women who still stand for freedom and in the most part support You. Lord help them, and Lord, give our veterans special blessings and bring them home safe and soon. And Lord, be with Faye during her surgery and healing. Lord bless Sharon and Oliver as they suffer the loss of Sharon's mother. And Lord, please bless the USA ... In the name of Jesus I pray, Amen.
Go forth, sharing your blessings and praying hard for this nation to come back from moral bankruptcy, for we are at the door ... love ya, dan.
Friday, March 20, 2009
Friday: Lost and Found 5
"Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation."
Good Morning, my dear brothers and sisters, and welcome to spring. Today is Friday and the day we pray for all of those who are working the fields of harvest for our Lord Jesus. If you are a Christian, and you are not working the fields of harvest for our Lord, then you are not following one of the commandments of our Lord Jesus ... Oh, yes, that is right.
Lost and Found 5 - Mark 16: 15: He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation." (NIV)
Note please this commandment of Jesus. Jesus said "Go" and not if you have time please go. He has commanded His people, us, to go and teach the good news. I can think of no better way to end up a week of messages on Lost and Found than to tell all of you that we must go and look for the lost.
We discussed in the beginning of the week about those who were raised in Christian homes and took that walkabout as in the "Parable of the Lost Son". We talked about the "Parable of the Lost Sheep". And we discussed the "Parable of the Lost Coin." We talked about those who have come to know the Lord who have slipped or did a back slide. However the bottom line is we should be looking for the lost, regardless of if they had been churched before or not. I even talked yesterday how we often would tramp our wounded into the ground, sometimes paying more attention to those who might have never entered a church door. WE NEED TO SEEK THE LOST AND TELL THEM THE GOOD NEWS. Some of the lost are sitting in church pews each Sunday and dare I say, some of the lost are doing the preaching. Think about it folks, some of the people putting on that fancy dress or tie and coat on Sunday or singing in the choir, leading the worship, or even being the pastor of the flock, might be just as lost as those who are bellying up to a bar and drinking till they fall off the bar stool. If you think I am wrong, think about what is being taught in the Unitarian Church. Now let me put it the other way ... some of the folks nearest and dearest to our Lord Jesus might not even go to church ... maybe just tired of the politics of the church.
Again our job for Jesus is to seek out the lost. Recently I was at a concert (even got to sing with them) with Dave, Duane, and Neil. Since these guys were in school, they have been singing out for our Lord Jesus, years and years and years they have been singing for Jesus and they still go to churches and still give a salvation message and a call to Jesus. Now these guys are not wasting their time, they are aware that the lost, those needing that salvation message can be found anyplace, including in churches. They also know that all of us, even them, need to be fueled up. Like a big old bus going down the highways and byways of the country, it needs to stop to be refueled, and those who work for Jesus also need to be refueled. So the lost must be found for our Lord Jesus, and we all need to go to work for Him. When we work for the Lord, when we seek the lost, we need to pray and ask our Lord Jesus where to send us.
On April 1st, Carry The Light will finish 15 years of singing gospel music most often in the retirement and nursing homes. I have prayed and prayed and feel this is where Jesus wants us to be. We have found many people who have been churched all their lives, who know the Lord, and we have found some who never knew the Lord at all. And I go to hear others sing and preach for I do not want to run out of fuel. Each morning Dolores and I do a short Bible study and talk to the Lord. I pray for a message from God to write to all of you. I don't know how many people read what I write, but if once in a while it brings someone to the feet of Jesus or helps them stay there, then my job for Jesus in the fields of harvest is working. Folks, remember when you are working the fields for Jesus, you DO NOT have the power to save a soul ... that is between Jesus and the ones you are working on. So please do your work, and let Jesus do His, and don't get them mixed up. And last but not least, you should be working for Jesus all the time. May I make this statement in closing, and you can quote me on this one ...
"The fields of harvest are where we trod." So work the harvest today regardless of where you trod.
Dear Father in Heaven, thank you for the the messages of this week, and thanks for this line. Lord may my words be as Yours and may You send this to where You want it to go. Help us all to follow Your command and go and tell the good news. Lord, bless those who do and protect them. And today, Lord, I want to put four pastors at your feet ... Pastor Tony, for he needs your touch on his eyes and health, Pastor Charles Idler, for He needs your touch for healing from a stroke, Pastor Larry Hale, for he is a great friend of mine whom I love dearly and I ask that Your hand is upon him and his wife and that their work for You grows and grows, Pastor Richard Denison, who I ask that You plant on his heart to contact me. Lord, please protect and bless Tim and Larry as these young men regroup and are Couriers for You ... and for those old guys that keep on ticking, bless them, bless Duane, Dave, Neil, Bob, Mike, and Mike... Yes former Couriers and the present Jacobs Brothers, guys who really love You. And Lord, as Carry The Light starts year 16, Dolores, Pam, and I want to say thank You Jesus. And I pray in Your name ... Amen.
Have a blessed weekend ... Carry The Light will be in concert at Cedar Haven in Lebanon on Saturday at 2.00 PM, and we would love to see you. Now go forth and share your blessings. Love ya, dan.
Good Morning, my dear brothers and sisters, and welcome to spring. Today is Friday and the day we pray for all of those who are working the fields of harvest for our Lord Jesus. If you are a Christian, and you are not working the fields of harvest for our Lord, then you are not following one of the commandments of our Lord Jesus ... Oh, yes, that is right.
Lost and Found 5 - Mark 16: 15: He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation." (NIV)
Note please this commandment of Jesus. Jesus said "Go" and not if you have time please go. He has commanded His people, us, to go and teach the good news. I can think of no better way to end up a week of messages on Lost and Found than to tell all of you that we must go and look for the lost.
We discussed in the beginning of the week about those who were raised in Christian homes and took that walkabout as in the "Parable of the Lost Son". We talked about the "Parable of the Lost Sheep". And we discussed the "Parable of the Lost Coin." We talked about those who have come to know the Lord who have slipped or did a back slide. However the bottom line is we should be looking for the lost, regardless of if they had been churched before or not. I even talked yesterday how we often would tramp our wounded into the ground, sometimes paying more attention to those who might have never entered a church door. WE NEED TO SEEK THE LOST AND TELL THEM THE GOOD NEWS. Some of the lost are sitting in church pews each Sunday and dare I say, some of the lost are doing the preaching. Think about it folks, some of the people putting on that fancy dress or tie and coat on Sunday or singing in the choir, leading the worship, or even being the pastor of the flock, might be just as lost as those who are bellying up to a bar and drinking till they fall off the bar stool. If you think I am wrong, think about what is being taught in the Unitarian Church. Now let me put it the other way ... some of the folks nearest and dearest to our Lord Jesus might not even go to church ... maybe just tired of the politics of the church.
Again our job for Jesus is to seek out the lost. Recently I was at a concert (even got to sing with them) with Dave, Duane, and Neil. Since these guys were in school, they have been singing out for our Lord Jesus, years and years and years they have been singing for Jesus and they still go to churches and still give a salvation message and a call to Jesus. Now these guys are not wasting their time, they are aware that the lost, those needing that salvation message can be found anyplace, including in churches. They also know that all of us, even them, need to be fueled up. Like a big old bus going down the highways and byways of the country, it needs to stop to be refueled, and those who work for Jesus also need to be refueled. So the lost must be found for our Lord Jesus, and we all need to go to work for Him. When we work for the Lord, when we seek the lost, we need to pray and ask our Lord Jesus where to send us.
On April 1st, Carry The Light will finish 15 years of singing gospel music most often in the retirement and nursing homes. I have prayed and prayed and feel this is where Jesus wants us to be. We have found many people who have been churched all their lives, who know the Lord, and we have found some who never knew the Lord at all. And I go to hear others sing and preach for I do not want to run out of fuel. Each morning Dolores and I do a short Bible study and talk to the Lord. I pray for a message from God to write to all of you. I don't know how many people read what I write, but if once in a while it brings someone to the feet of Jesus or helps them stay there, then my job for Jesus in the fields of harvest is working. Folks, remember when you are working the fields for Jesus, you DO NOT have the power to save a soul ... that is between Jesus and the ones you are working on. So please do your work, and let Jesus do His, and don't get them mixed up. And last but not least, you should be working for Jesus all the time. May I make this statement in closing, and you can quote me on this one ...
"The fields of harvest are where we trod." So work the harvest today regardless of where you trod.
Dear Father in Heaven, thank you for the the messages of this week, and thanks for this line. Lord may my words be as Yours and may You send this to where You want it to go. Help us all to follow Your command and go and tell the good news. Lord, bless those who do and protect them. And today, Lord, I want to put four pastors at your feet ... Pastor Tony, for he needs your touch on his eyes and health, Pastor Charles Idler, for He needs your touch for healing from a stroke, Pastor Larry Hale, for he is a great friend of mine whom I love dearly and I ask that Your hand is upon him and his wife and that their work for You grows and grows, Pastor Richard Denison, who I ask that You plant on his heart to contact me. Lord, please protect and bless Tim and Larry as these young men regroup and are Couriers for You ... and for those old guys that keep on ticking, bless them, bless Duane, Dave, Neil, Bob, Mike, and Mike... Yes former Couriers and the present Jacobs Brothers, guys who really love You. And Lord, as Carry The Light starts year 16, Dolores, Pam, and I want to say thank You Jesus. And I pray in Your name ... Amen.
Have a blessed weekend ... Carry The Light will be in concert at Cedar Haven in Lebanon on Saturday at 2.00 PM, and we would love to see you. Now go forth and share your blessings. Love ya, dan.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Thursday: Lost and Found 4
Tossed out like an old sock, not wanted anymore.
Good Morning, my dear brothers and sisters. Family day on this last day of winter. Spring comes in tomorrow. Oh, if you are looking in your Bible for the verse I have posted to start this day, you will not find it there, for today I have opened with a thought from my own little brain.
PRAISE THE LORD. After listing praise for the healing of cancer for Bob Beard, Bob has told me this, the shots that he has been getting in his eyes are coming to an end. God is working here also. So praise God for the healing of Bob's cancer and keep praying for his eyes. Also, please keep praying for Pastor Charles Idler, asking God to heal him from a past stroke. Also, it is family day and the day we pray for families, please remember to pray for the family of God also.
Lost and Found 4: If you are like me, you have lost a sock or two over the years, so what then does one do with the one that is left? I learned that if you buy all of them with the same stripe or print you can keep making pairs as you lose them or they wear out. When I come up with a lone sock, I look under the bed or out in the yard, for one of our dogs will find them and drag them around. But let's face it, if we have one lone sock, or one with a hole in it, most often we just toss it out.
Now let me talk about someone who might being going to church, Saved, or not there yet, but going to church, and then they slip and take a back slide as we call it. What do a lot of churches or Christians do? They let them slip and slide, or maybe they go out and pull them down more by "talking about them". Oh did you hear what Joe did, or did you hear what Sally did, and then the dirt hits the fan.
We Christians seem to toss out people like an old sock. Oh, we go out and try and work and work to get someone to the Lord, but when one slips, do we go and help them back? This is just what I have been writing about all week, only today I am putting it in different words.
We need to help our fallen brothers and sisters back into grace. Now I could write another week on how so many people this day and age toss out children and the unborn like an old sock, in fact some people would hunt more for the lost sock than a child. I would bet you that a doctor who kills those unborn babies, who murders them, buys good socks and would look for a lost one.
Brothers and sisters, if you watched the movie Forrest Gump, or Saving Private Ryan, you would see just how our military goes to all ends to bring back our wounded and even the bodies of those killed in combat. But the Christian, why we go and tramp our fallen warriors into the ground more and more. We need to help our brothers and sisters who have fallen to get up and get back to God ... for we never know ... FOR WE NEVER KNOW, when it might be our very own self that has taken that tumble. Think about it and please add this to a list of to-do things -- We always talk about repenting from our sins and our Bible tells us of that many places. We need to repent. But brothers and sisters, you are hearing this from me today. "We need to also help others to repent from their sins." Should I say it again? "We need to help others to repent from their sins."
Luke 15: 7: "I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent. (NIV)
So let us not just welcome home a lost soul, but let us HELP THEM BACK ... AMEN.
Dear Father in Heaven, first today I ask that You forgive me of my sins and help me to repent, then Lord, I ask that You help me, help us on this line, to help others to repent. Give us the strength to go and help up our fallen warriors, starting first in our own families, and then working the fields of Harvest. Lord, help us, and Lord thanks, thanks for healing Bob Beard, and Lord, please bring Pastor Charles out of the wheelchair and help him get back to preaching and teaching in Your name. And Lord Jesus, I pray in Your name, Amen.
Now go forth and share those blessings, and please think of what I said, please do not tramp people into the dirt, help them up ... love ya, dan.
Good Morning, my dear brothers and sisters. Family day on this last day of winter. Spring comes in tomorrow. Oh, if you are looking in your Bible for the verse I have posted to start this day, you will not find it there, for today I have opened with a thought from my own little brain.
PRAISE THE LORD. After listing praise for the healing of cancer for Bob Beard, Bob has told me this, the shots that he has been getting in his eyes are coming to an end. God is working here also. So praise God for the healing of Bob's cancer and keep praying for his eyes. Also, please keep praying for Pastor Charles Idler, asking God to heal him from a past stroke. Also, it is family day and the day we pray for families, please remember to pray for the family of God also.
Lost and Found 4: If you are like me, you have lost a sock or two over the years, so what then does one do with the one that is left? I learned that if you buy all of them with the same stripe or print you can keep making pairs as you lose them or they wear out. When I come up with a lone sock, I look under the bed or out in the yard, for one of our dogs will find them and drag them around. But let's face it, if we have one lone sock, or one with a hole in it, most often we just toss it out.
Now let me talk about someone who might being going to church, Saved, or not there yet, but going to church, and then they slip and take a back slide as we call it. What do a lot of churches or Christians do? They let them slip and slide, or maybe they go out and pull them down more by "talking about them". Oh did you hear what Joe did, or did you hear what Sally did, and then the dirt hits the fan.
We Christians seem to toss out people like an old sock. Oh, we go out and try and work and work to get someone to the Lord, but when one slips, do we go and help them back? This is just what I have been writing about all week, only today I am putting it in different words.
We need to help our fallen brothers and sisters back into grace. Now I could write another week on how so many people this day and age toss out children and the unborn like an old sock, in fact some people would hunt more for the lost sock than a child. I would bet you that a doctor who kills those unborn babies, who murders them, buys good socks and would look for a lost one.
Brothers and sisters, if you watched the movie Forrest Gump, or Saving Private Ryan, you would see just how our military goes to all ends to bring back our wounded and even the bodies of those killed in combat. But the Christian, why we go and tramp our fallen warriors into the ground more and more. We need to help our brothers and sisters who have fallen to get up and get back to God ... for we never know ... FOR WE NEVER KNOW, when it might be our very own self that has taken that tumble. Think about it and please add this to a list of to-do things -- We always talk about repenting from our sins and our Bible tells us of that many places. We need to repent. But brothers and sisters, you are hearing this from me today. "We need to also help others to repent from their sins." Should I say it again? "We need to help others to repent from their sins."
Luke 15: 7: "I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent. (NIV)
So let us not just welcome home a lost soul, but let us HELP THEM BACK ... AMEN.
Dear Father in Heaven, first today I ask that You forgive me of my sins and help me to repent, then Lord, I ask that You help me, help us on this line, to help others to repent. Give us the strength to go and help up our fallen warriors, starting first in our own families, and then working the fields of Harvest. Lord, help us, and Lord thanks, thanks for healing Bob Beard, and Lord, please bring Pastor Charles out of the wheelchair and help him get back to preaching and teaching in Your name. And Lord Jesus, I pray in Your name, Amen.
Now go forth and share those blessings, and please think of what I said, please do not tramp people into the dirt, help them up ... love ya, dan.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Wednesday: Lost and Found 3
"There is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."
PRAISE GOD, PRAISE GOD, PRAISE GOD ... Bob Beard has been healed of cancer. His PSA shows the cancer is gone; Praise God, Praise God, Praise God for His healing hand on the back of Sharon Ogden; Praise God, praise God, Praise God, for the weight drop in Oliver which will help his back.
Folks, we always need to take time to praise God and for all things. When we pray for healing, we need to give God glory when it happens.
This morning I got up, turned the valve on the sink and no water came out ... Praise God. We are on a well and the pump went down, it needs replaced. Praise God for this. Do you know that for almost the last five years, we turned on that valve and water came out. Praise God for that water. So why am I praising God when it does not work? First, it makes us appreciate when things are working that we really just take for granted. Second, if it had broken three months from now, the warranty would have expired, as it is the pump that is free. Can you say praise God? We just need to be thankful all the time. We need to praise God for the good times and praise Him also for the bad, for we would not appreciate the good, unless we experience the bad. Amen.
Lost and Found 3: One day when I was young, and the streets were still dirt, my dear late mamma gave me two dimes, one for Sunday School and one to spend on an ice cream cone after church and Sunday school. On the way to church I was flipping one of the dimes in the air and it went down a storm sewer. Yes, as I said, "there went God's dime right down the drain."
Getting serious here, we did not have much money when I was a child, and I can remember hunting and hunting for a nickel that I dropped along my paper route. I looked and looked and looked for that money. Well folks, our dear Lord Jesus tells the parable of the lost coin, and it is recorded in the book of Luke, Chapter 15: 8/10. Please take time to read it.
What this story really talks about is how we should look for the lost, the one sinner that needs to repent. Brothers and Sisters, today is Salvation Wednesday and a good day to look around us, first in the mirror, and then around us, looking for that lost coin, or that lost sinner. First of all when we look in the mirror, do we see a person that is saved, but needs some repenting, or do we see someone who really never came fully to Christ? Then we look around the office. You can tell the person, the one who might have drifted or never came to Christ. We need to be working to get that person back. Our job as a Christian, a follower of Jesus should always be first to live for Him and then to share that good news of Jesus. We should be looking for the lost and working with them to repent ... Amen.
Dear Father in Heaven, first help us to repent and live for You, and then help us to look for the lost to bring them to Your feet to be saved. Lord, thanks for Your healing hand on Sharon, Oliver and Bob. All honor and glory is yours. In Jesus name, Amen.
Go forth now, working for Jesus, sharing His love for you with others, sharing your blessings. love ya, dan.
PRAISE GOD, PRAISE GOD, PRAISE GOD ... Bob Beard has been healed of cancer. His PSA shows the cancer is gone; Praise God, Praise God, Praise God for His healing hand on the back of Sharon Ogden; Praise God, praise God, Praise God, for the weight drop in Oliver which will help his back.
Folks, we always need to take time to praise God and for all things. When we pray for healing, we need to give God glory when it happens.
This morning I got up, turned the valve on the sink and no water came out ... Praise God. We are on a well and the pump went down, it needs replaced. Praise God for this. Do you know that for almost the last five years, we turned on that valve and water came out. Praise God for that water. So why am I praising God when it does not work? First, it makes us appreciate when things are working that we really just take for granted. Second, if it had broken three months from now, the warranty would have expired, as it is the pump that is free. Can you say praise God? We just need to be thankful all the time. We need to praise God for the good times and praise Him also for the bad, for we would not appreciate the good, unless we experience the bad. Amen.
Lost and Found 3: One day when I was young, and the streets were still dirt, my dear late mamma gave me two dimes, one for Sunday School and one to spend on an ice cream cone after church and Sunday school. On the way to church I was flipping one of the dimes in the air and it went down a storm sewer. Yes, as I said, "there went God's dime right down the drain."
Getting serious here, we did not have much money when I was a child, and I can remember hunting and hunting for a nickel that I dropped along my paper route. I looked and looked and looked for that money. Well folks, our dear Lord Jesus tells the parable of the lost coin, and it is recorded in the book of Luke, Chapter 15: 8/10. Please take time to read it.
What this story really talks about is how we should look for the lost, the one sinner that needs to repent. Brothers and Sisters, today is Salvation Wednesday and a good day to look around us, first in the mirror, and then around us, looking for that lost coin, or that lost sinner. First of all when we look in the mirror, do we see a person that is saved, but needs some repenting, or do we see someone who really never came fully to Christ? Then we look around the office. You can tell the person, the one who might have drifted or never came to Christ. We need to be working to get that person back. Our job as a Christian, a follower of Jesus should always be first to live for Him and then to share that good news of Jesus. We should be looking for the lost and working with them to repent ... Amen.
Dear Father in Heaven, first help us to repent and live for You, and then help us to look for the lost to bring them to Your feet to be saved. Lord, thanks for Your healing hand on Sharon, Oliver and Bob. All honor and glory is yours. In Jesus name, Amen.
Go forth now, working for Jesus, sharing His love for you with others, sharing your blessings. love ya, dan.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Tuesday: Lost and Found 2
Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear him.
Happy St. Patrick's Day, my dear brothers and sisters. We can now have our onion snow and get on with spring and summer. PRAISE THE LORD. Tuesday, and it is schools day on this line. It is the day we pray for all who enter our schools, public, private, religious, all of them, and from grades preschool to higher education. Praise God for Christian teachers, and we have several on this line ... Big John from Carlisle and Larry from Dauphin County Tech. So let's lift these two men in prayer, and if we have other teachers on line, let's lift them also. Also, our daughters Danelle and Leann both work in schools, one with teachers in the classroom and the other in the office. Pray for them please as they also reach out to kids. (Let your Jesus light shine, girls, dad is proud of you.)
Lost and Found 2: Yesterday, I started this series by telling you about my walkabout. Today, I want to go to Luke 15 1/7 and look at the parable of the lost sheep.
Luke 15 1: Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Him. 2 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them". (NIV)
Praise God that He eats with the sinners and welcomes them, for I am a sinner saved by this Man's Grace and Blood. This Man, Jesus, tells this: "Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he find it? And when He finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home." Luke 15 4/5 NIV
As you know, Dolores I rescue and adopt little dogs. Most all have handicaps, most are seniors. I can remember three times since we have been doing this that one would get out just after we got them. I can recall one time one slipped out behind us and was picked up by a neighbor and dropped off at our vets. It was just in, and when the vet called us I went up, my heart pumping so hard. This little Pom is so crippled that the people who found her thought she was hit by a car. Our vet knew who to call. Just recently we adopted a one-year old Yorkshire pup. On the second day, he got behind me going out the door and he was off and running. Let me tell you that a one-year old puppy can out run a 67-year old man. Don't laugh, this guy could out run you also. Anyway, I got my scooter out and went to look for him, when he came back to give me a kiss. Now God brought him back. So we give God the glory ... and let me tell you I can relate to the lost sheep. I have over the years looked for dogs, cats, a goat that got out, and a few nice cattle that got out when I had a farm. I have chased chickens, and even a pig or two, and when we caught them, we rejoiced for we were happy to have them back. So you can see how I can relate.
However, our God in Heaven is rejoicing when a sinner, a person is lost, has been brought back into the flock. Folks, you know a lot of us will go and look for a lost cat or dog, but do we go and look for a lost person? Oh, we would for sure go and look for our lost child if at two or three years of age they slipped out the door, or as a young teen they did not come home. But do we really go out and look for a lost person, one who has wandered away from our Lord Jesus? I want you to really think about that. I am going to put pastors on the spot on this one ... do WE pastors get into a slump? Do we get our flock in front of us, and then when one is not in church for a while do we check on them? Oh, if I know they are sick, I will call on them, in my case that is easy as they are in the same building as where we have services. I also am blessed to be able to go through the dining room at the Bridges and talk to those who might have missed church. But do WE, and again I am making that WE big because ME is in the We. I have attended churches and even been a member and when I did not go back for a while, did the pastor call me? Most of the time not. Did they come after the lost sheep? I told you about my youth, maybe if that pastor, who has gone home, or someone from that church, called me and asked me, how come you are not coming to church, maybe, just maybe, I would have come back to Jesus sooner, and then again, maybe not. But you are getting my point here. So I guess I am asking the pastors that are on this line -- do you go after your lost? I know most welcome new folks, but do we ever have a welcome home party? Maybe that would be a really good idea. Have a nice cookout this summer and welcome home those who have left the charge. Maybe some have gone to other churches, maybe they are lost? Maybe they are going to another church and are still lost!! Do you see where I am coming from? Look what Jesus tells us.
Luke 15: 7 "I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent."
Now let me lay off the pastors and look at all of us. Families, do you have a lost soul in your family, one who maybe not has walked from the family, but did walk from the family of God? Let's go get them ... let's follow what God wants. How about at work, maybe you have someone you work with, in your work family, and you just know that person is lost. Are you willing to try and bring that person back into the flock? It's school days, and I ask all of you who work in schools, do you know one that is really lost? Don't be afraid to talk to them. Be strong ... remember who your boss really is ... GOD.
Dear Father in Heaven, it is time that we get working on the lost for You. Lord, first clean us of our sins, and then get us working on the lost. Let us first stand before You and then before the mirror and make sure we are ready for the job. Lord, please take care of our children and all others who are in our schools, bless them this day, and not just those wearing the green. Just kidding, God, we know You will look after all of them. And Lord, it does seem that this day will bring out some parties and some heavy drinking. Lord, protect Your children on the roads, in the mighty name of Jesus I pray, Amen. And Lord, please, please let Pastor Charles preach again.
Now go forth and share your blessings, and folks, get those onions in the ground, for we have just three more days of winter, spring comes in on Friday Morning ... WE WILL MAKE IT.
Do you know what? I love you folks, I really, really do ... dan.
Happy St. Patrick's Day, my dear brothers and sisters. We can now have our onion snow and get on with spring and summer. PRAISE THE LORD. Tuesday, and it is schools day on this line. It is the day we pray for all who enter our schools, public, private, religious, all of them, and from grades preschool to higher education. Praise God for Christian teachers, and we have several on this line ... Big John from Carlisle and Larry from Dauphin County Tech. So let's lift these two men in prayer, and if we have other teachers on line, let's lift them also. Also, our daughters Danelle and Leann both work in schools, one with teachers in the classroom and the other in the office. Pray for them please as they also reach out to kids. (Let your Jesus light shine, girls, dad is proud of you.)
Lost and Found 2: Yesterday, I started this series by telling you about my walkabout. Today, I want to go to Luke 15 1/7 and look at the parable of the lost sheep.
Luke 15 1: Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Him. 2 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them". (NIV)
Praise God that He eats with the sinners and welcomes them, for I am a sinner saved by this Man's Grace and Blood. This Man, Jesus, tells this: "Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he find it? And when He finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home." Luke 15 4/5 NIV
As you know, Dolores I rescue and adopt little dogs. Most all have handicaps, most are seniors. I can remember three times since we have been doing this that one would get out just after we got them. I can recall one time one slipped out behind us and was picked up by a neighbor and dropped off at our vets. It was just in, and when the vet called us I went up, my heart pumping so hard. This little Pom is so crippled that the people who found her thought she was hit by a car. Our vet knew who to call. Just recently we adopted a one-year old Yorkshire pup. On the second day, he got behind me going out the door and he was off and running. Let me tell you that a one-year old puppy can out run a 67-year old man. Don't laugh, this guy could out run you also. Anyway, I got my scooter out and went to look for him, when he came back to give me a kiss. Now God brought him back. So we give God the glory ... and let me tell you I can relate to the lost sheep. I have over the years looked for dogs, cats, a goat that got out, and a few nice cattle that got out when I had a farm. I have chased chickens, and even a pig or two, and when we caught them, we rejoiced for we were happy to have them back. So you can see how I can relate.
However, our God in Heaven is rejoicing when a sinner, a person is lost, has been brought back into the flock. Folks, you know a lot of us will go and look for a lost cat or dog, but do we go and look for a lost person? Oh, we would for sure go and look for our lost child if at two or three years of age they slipped out the door, or as a young teen they did not come home. But do we really go out and look for a lost person, one who has wandered away from our Lord Jesus? I want you to really think about that. I am going to put pastors on the spot on this one ... do WE pastors get into a slump? Do we get our flock in front of us, and then when one is not in church for a while do we check on them? Oh, if I know they are sick, I will call on them, in my case that is easy as they are in the same building as where we have services. I also am blessed to be able to go through the dining room at the Bridges and talk to those who might have missed church. But do WE, and again I am making that WE big because ME is in the We. I have attended churches and even been a member and when I did not go back for a while, did the pastor call me? Most of the time not. Did they come after the lost sheep? I told you about my youth, maybe if that pastor, who has gone home, or someone from that church, called me and asked me, how come you are not coming to church, maybe, just maybe, I would have come back to Jesus sooner, and then again, maybe not. But you are getting my point here. So I guess I am asking the pastors that are on this line -- do you go after your lost? I know most welcome new folks, but do we ever have a welcome home party? Maybe that would be a really good idea. Have a nice cookout this summer and welcome home those who have left the charge. Maybe some have gone to other churches, maybe they are lost? Maybe they are going to another church and are still lost!! Do you see where I am coming from? Look what Jesus tells us.
Luke 15: 7 "I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent."
Now let me lay off the pastors and look at all of us. Families, do you have a lost soul in your family, one who maybe not has walked from the family, but did walk from the family of God? Let's go get them ... let's follow what God wants. How about at work, maybe you have someone you work with, in your work family, and you just know that person is lost. Are you willing to try and bring that person back into the flock? It's school days, and I ask all of you who work in schools, do you know one that is really lost? Don't be afraid to talk to them. Be strong ... remember who your boss really is ... GOD.
Dear Father in Heaven, it is time that we get working on the lost for You. Lord, first clean us of our sins, and then get us working on the lost. Let us first stand before You and then before the mirror and make sure we are ready for the job. Lord, please take care of our children and all others who are in our schools, bless them this day, and not just those wearing the green. Just kidding, God, we know You will look after all of them. And Lord, it does seem that this day will bring out some parties and some heavy drinking. Lord, protect Your children on the roads, in the mighty name of Jesus I pray, Amen. And Lord, please, please let Pastor Charles preach again.
Now go forth and share your blessings, and folks, get those onions in the ground, for we have just three more days of winter, spring comes in on Friday Morning ... WE WILL MAKE IT.
Do you know what? I love you folks, I really, really do ... dan.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Monday: Lost and Found
"There was a man who had two sons."
Good Morning, my dear brothers and sisters. It is Monday and the day we pray for our leaders, our military, and all who help keep us safe and healthy. A big day of prayer ... Please pray also for one of our bus museum members, George Herwig, who is very weak after surgeries on his head. Also for Bob Beard, who is having shots in his eye tomorrow.
Lost and Found: I spent about 25 years in the school bus business, first as a driver for a few years and then into the office to manage the fleet. We had over a hundred buses, and in each bus there was a place that was called a lost and found box. It always amazed me what had been lost and never reclaimed by the kids. We would leave the things on the bus from day to day except for school books which we could send back to the schools and the kids hunted down. Do you know that kids never lose both gloves? At the end of a school year, we would bring in the boxes and sort them out, taking jackets, etc that were good, to the Goodwill Stores.
As I get older and older, I find myself losing more and more things, and hunting and hunting them. And it happens all the time, I always find them at the very last place I look ... always. However, the most important thing that I had lost and then had found again was my very own soul ... it went something like this ...
I was born on May 16, 1941, and named after my dad, Daniel Webster Lehman Jr. My dad and mother, Sara Margaret Lehman, raised my brother Leonard and myself in the way of the Lord. They really did. Mom made our clothes, and we always looked nice, and although we had nothing fancy our clothes were clean. Living in Harrisburg, Pa., near the Harrisburg, Paxtang line, mom and dad saw that we would get to Sunday School and most often church each week at the 29th Street Evangelical United Brethren Church. I also had to go to Bible School each summer for two weeks. Yes, I knew all about Jesus and loved the stories of Jesus and loved to sing. When I was a senior in high school, I lost my mother, but even before that I got a job to support my habit (cars and trucks), and the job was at a Gulf Gasoline Service Station, and yes, I had to work on Sundays. I did not mind, for I made 50 cents per hour. I slowly got away from church and also away from Jesus. I left Him, I want that to be clear, He did not leave me. As I got older and older, I would come back to God when I was down, and walk away again when I was up. When I was 39, I came back for good and started to grow and grow again in God. And Jesus would forgive me and take me back each time. He never shut the door on me, never. You know that my Lord Jesus forgave me of my sins and does not bring up my past, however once in a while still today, I will hear from someone who will either tell others, I knew him when he would, or they would say to me, I knew you when you did. And let me tell you that it hurts today. It hurts because I was not raised that way, and I turned my back on God. I am sure I am forgiven for there is a story in the Bible about being lost and then found.
From Luke 15: 11/32: You will find Jesus telling the Parable of the Lost Son. Please take time to read it, and please understand that if you are one who fits this bill, being a lost son, or a lost daughter, please know that our Lord Jesus will take you back, He will forgive You, and He will not cast it up to you in any way, shape, or form. I am going to be talking this week about the Lost and the Found, from people to sheep to coins. Jesus has given more than one parable on the Lost.
I just want to drive this home, for regardless of our backgrounds, Jesus will wash us clean, and if we get dirty again, He will clean us again. God is good. And for all of you on the line that have known me from the past, thanks for forgiving me, and not casting it up. Please, try and take time to read Luke chapter 15 from start to finish, and you will get a good idea of how Jesus forgives.
Let me close with this little story today. Those who know us today, know Dolores and me, you know that we have a lot of dogs, older dogs, crippled dogs, blind dogs, and we keep them till they go home. (Yes there will be dogs in heaven.) We have removed all carpet from our home and put down a washable floor. Each morning, we get up and take care of the dogs (and cats) and I mop the house, from one end to the other. During the day, the dogs track in mud, make a mess once in a while, and cause us to do the work over again. We love them and we forgive them. The other day when I was mopping, it came to me that God does the same for us each day, He cleans up our daily mess-ups in life, and He still holds us and loves us. So in the evening as I sit in a big chair or lay across the bed, the dogs, about three on my lap, one or two on the lap of Dolores and the others at our feet, we feel blessed, for we are sitting on the lap of our Master, our Lord Jesus. God loves us all, and He longs to hold you on His lap and cuddle up with you ... Please let Him.
Dear Father in Heaven, thanks for cleaning our past, thanks for cleaning our messes, and thanks for walking with us. Please Lord, watch over our leaders, their families, and our military and their families, and all those who work to keep us safe. And Lord, bless George and heal him, and touch the eyes of my big brother in Christ, Bob. And Lord, please, please, heal Pastor Charles. In the name of Jesus, Amen.
Go forth sharing your blessings with others, and also turning more and more to Jesus. Hold on tight to Him, and brothers and sisters, enjoy the ride, or walk. If you are walking away... listen to these words -- ABOUT FACE ... come on back. love ya, dan.
Good Morning, my dear brothers and sisters. It is Monday and the day we pray for our leaders, our military, and all who help keep us safe and healthy. A big day of prayer ... Please pray also for one of our bus museum members, George Herwig, who is very weak after surgeries on his head. Also for Bob Beard, who is having shots in his eye tomorrow.
Lost and Found: I spent about 25 years in the school bus business, first as a driver for a few years and then into the office to manage the fleet. We had over a hundred buses, and in each bus there was a place that was called a lost and found box. It always amazed me what had been lost and never reclaimed by the kids. We would leave the things on the bus from day to day except for school books which we could send back to the schools and the kids hunted down. Do you know that kids never lose both gloves? At the end of a school year, we would bring in the boxes and sort them out, taking jackets, etc that were good, to the Goodwill Stores.
As I get older and older, I find myself losing more and more things, and hunting and hunting them. And it happens all the time, I always find them at the very last place I look ... always. However, the most important thing that I had lost and then had found again was my very own soul ... it went something like this ...
I was born on May 16, 1941, and named after my dad, Daniel Webster Lehman Jr. My dad and mother, Sara Margaret Lehman, raised my brother Leonard and myself in the way of the Lord. They really did. Mom made our clothes, and we always looked nice, and although we had nothing fancy our clothes were clean. Living in Harrisburg, Pa., near the Harrisburg, Paxtang line, mom and dad saw that we would get to Sunday School and most often church each week at the 29th Street Evangelical United Brethren Church. I also had to go to Bible School each summer for two weeks. Yes, I knew all about Jesus and loved the stories of Jesus and loved to sing. When I was a senior in high school, I lost my mother, but even before that I got a job to support my habit (cars and trucks), and the job was at a Gulf Gasoline Service Station, and yes, I had to work on Sundays. I did not mind, for I made 50 cents per hour. I slowly got away from church and also away from Jesus. I left Him, I want that to be clear, He did not leave me. As I got older and older, I would come back to God when I was down, and walk away again when I was up. When I was 39, I came back for good and started to grow and grow again in God. And Jesus would forgive me and take me back each time. He never shut the door on me, never. You know that my Lord Jesus forgave me of my sins and does not bring up my past, however once in a while still today, I will hear from someone who will either tell others, I knew him when he would, or they would say to me, I knew you when you did. And let me tell you that it hurts today. It hurts because I was not raised that way, and I turned my back on God. I am sure I am forgiven for there is a story in the Bible about being lost and then found.
From Luke 15: 11/32: You will find Jesus telling the Parable of the Lost Son. Please take time to read it, and please understand that if you are one who fits this bill, being a lost son, or a lost daughter, please know that our Lord Jesus will take you back, He will forgive You, and He will not cast it up to you in any way, shape, or form. I am going to be talking this week about the Lost and the Found, from people to sheep to coins. Jesus has given more than one parable on the Lost.
I just want to drive this home, for regardless of our backgrounds, Jesus will wash us clean, and if we get dirty again, He will clean us again. God is good. And for all of you on the line that have known me from the past, thanks for forgiving me, and not casting it up. Please, try and take time to read Luke chapter 15 from start to finish, and you will get a good idea of how Jesus forgives.
Let me close with this little story today. Those who know us today, know Dolores and me, you know that we have a lot of dogs, older dogs, crippled dogs, blind dogs, and we keep them till they go home. (Yes there will be dogs in heaven.) We have removed all carpet from our home and put down a washable floor. Each morning, we get up and take care of the dogs (and cats) and I mop the house, from one end to the other. During the day, the dogs track in mud, make a mess once in a while, and cause us to do the work over again. We love them and we forgive them. The other day when I was mopping, it came to me that God does the same for us each day, He cleans up our daily mess-ups in life, and He still holds us and loves us. So in the evening as I sit in a big chair or lay across the bed, the dogs, about three on my lap, one or two on the lap of Dolores and the others at our feet, we feel blessed, for we are sitting on the lap of our Master, our Lord Jesus. God loves us all, and He longs to hold you on His lap and cuddle up with you ... Please let Him.
Dear Father in Heaven, thanks for cleaning our past, thanks for cleaning our messes, and thanks for walking with us. Please Lord, watch over our leaders, their families, and our military and their families, and all those who work to keep us safe. And Lord, bless George and heal him, and touch the eyes of my big brother in Christ, Bob. And Lord, please, please, heal Pastor Charles. In the name of Jesus, Amen.
Go forth sharing your blessings with others, and also turning more and more to Jesus. Hold on tight to Him, and brothers and sisters, enjoy the ride, or walk. If you are walking away... listen to these words -- ABOUT FACE ... come on back. love ya, dan.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Saturday Special: Talking to God 6
"Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil; For Thine is the Kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen."
Good Morning, my dear brothers and sisters, and happy Saturday to you. Early in my years of writing on this line, I put out a message seven days a week. My good Christian brother, Tom Sansoni, told me that I should be taking time to rest as God tells us to. So since so many receive the message at work, I cut the weekends. However, once in a while I am pushed just a tad to get a subject finished. This is one of those days. For those who might miss a day or want to review, remember you can go to our blogspot where the messages are posted daily. Ministry partner Pamela Bower takes care of this spot. She also spell checks me there ... http://carrythelight4Jesus.blogspot.com keeps you up to date ... and please, you may talk on our blogspot.
Today is Saturday and I am going to ask you to center your prayers on Vicki for healing. This young lady has a lot of health problems, and that also has her having other problems and no money. Center those prayers please.
TALKING TO GOD 6: Today I want to finish up on the Lord's prayer, I don't know if I will have more on talking to God on Monday or not. Why? I need to talk to God about it.
AND FORGIVE US OUR TRESPASSES: Forgive us is just what it says. Forgive us, Lord, as we ask God to forgive us of our Trespasses, or Debts, which means forgive us Lord of our sins. Brothers and sisters, we need to be asking Jesus to forgive us of our daily sins. For if you are like me at all, even though I try hard to repent of my sins, it seems that I still get in a few each day. In this day and age I think, and maybe I am wrong on this, but I think people are praying to God to have their debts forgiven, as in money they owe. Folks, please remember this, first of all, this prayer is talking about our sins, however, HOWEVER, our Lord God is also good at helping you with your debts. Here is the answer which most of you know already. If you give back to God some of what He gives to you in the first place, He will give you even more. It is the blessings thing I talk about. But if you think you can go out and buy a $300,000 dollar home, two Beemers, and a couple of Caddies, and think God is going to foot the bill, while you stay at home and draw welfare on unemployment, think again. The Bible tells us very plainly that those who will not work should not even eat. Sorry I got off subject a tad. Anyway, we are asking God to forgive us of our sins ... and He will, but listen to this next part.
AS WE FORGIVE THOSE WHO TRESPASS AGAINST US: Matthew 5: 43/44 tells us this. "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. Now let me put together the last two lines of the prayers and watch as I bring out some key words on this. Forgive us our trespasses AS WE forgive those who trespass against us. STOP ... Did you see what we are asking God to do? We are asking our sins to be forgiven just like we forgive others in our lives - MEANING - If you have someone you are holding something over, someone has hurt you, maybe way back in your life, and you have not forgive them ... then please note that God is only forgiving you as you forgive others. Sorry brothers and sisters, I did not make these rules, I am only telling them to you. But I am not going to softsoap this to you. Dig up those old hurts and forgive the others, even if they do not forgive you. I see it in families where brothers and sisters and even parents and children let things build up and carry this burden forever and ever. No, get it out and forgive. If they do not forgive you, then it is on them. And try hard, when you forgive, do not bring it up again. God does not cast up to us our past, we might bring it up on our own in our minds, but God, once He has forgiven us, it is over and done with. Please learn from this, from these lines in this prayer. One more time here ... God is going to forgive us just like we forgive others.
LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION: We are asking God not to let us get into places where there is evil, where temptations are strong. God is not the one who leads us into temptation, it is Satan, but if we are not walking right with God, and we are coming back, or we have been just giving lip service to God, we need to be really thinking about this line. God, please do not let me get into those areas where I am weak.
BUT DELIVER US FROM EVIL: Ok, so we walked ourselves into the temptation into areas of sin and now we are asking God to bail us out. God's the bondman, you might say. Dear God, pay our bail and get me out of here. Deliver me from that sin. Put the lines together and it reads like this.
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Or keep me on the straight and narrow, Lord, and keep the hands of Satan from me.
FOR THINE IS THE KINGDOM AND THE POWER AND THE GLORY FOREVER: Here we are telling God, it is His Kingdom, and He has the Power, and we need to give Him the glory, and we should do it all the time. This is, well sort of like the end of the TV show, or movie and you see the credits. God is the producer, the director, and He made the sets. He has the control. However, He gave us free will. Again, this closing line is a praise line for our Lord. Jesus, when telling us how to pray, put in all the five prayer types.
AMEN: When used at the end of a prayer it means "So be it". Amen could also be used when you agree with something someone else has said. Or if you are like most of us pastors, we like to hear an AMEN once in a while as people agree with what is being said about God.
Now let's go to prayer one more time today and now lets pray it ... and think about it, and give Jesus glory for it ... ready.
"Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil; For Thine is the Kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen."
Be blessed folks, and thanks for sharing your weekend with me. Must tell you I got to go up and sing with Duane, Dave and Neil last evening and I loved it. They let me pick the song and they put in the background. The song, my most liked old hymn, The Old Rugged Cross. Today I get to sing along with Dolores and Pam at Chapel Pointe in Carlisle at 2.00 PM ... if you want to stop in. Now go and share your blessings, and FORGIVE OTHERS ... love ya, dan.
Good Morning, my dear brothers and sisters, and happy Saturday to you. Early in my years of writing on this line, I put out a message seven days a week. My good Christian brother, Tom Sansoni, told me that I should be taking time to rest as God tells us to. So since so many receive the message at work, I cut the weekends. However, once in a while I am pushed just a tad to get a subject finished. This is one of those days. For those who might miss a day or want to review, remember you can go to our blogspot where the messages are posted daily. Ministry partner Pamela Bower takes care of this spot. She also spell checks me there ... http://carrythelight4Jesus.blogspot.com keeps you up to date ... and please, you may talk on our blogspot.
Today is Saturday and I am going to ask you to center your prayers on Vicki for healing. This young lady has a lot of health problems, and that also has her having other problems and no money. Center those prayers please.
TALKING TO GOD 6: Today I want to finish up on the Lord's prayer, I don't know if I will have more on talking to God on Monday or not. Why? I need to talk to God about it.
AND FORGIVE US OUR TRESPASSES: Forgive us is just what it says. Forgive us, Lord, as we ask God to forgive us of our Trespasses, or Debts, which means forgive us Lord of our sins. Brothers and sisters, we need to be asking Jesus to forgive us of our daily sins. For if you are like me at all, even though I try hard to repent of my sins, it seems that I still get in a few each day. In this day and age I think, and maybe I am wrong on this, but I think people are praying to God to have their debts forgiven, as in money they owe. Folks, please remember this, first of all, this prayer is talking about our sins, however, HOWEVER, our Lord God is also good at helping you with your debts. Here is the answer which most of you know already. If you give back to God some of what He gives to you in the first place, He will give you even more. It is the blessings thing I talk about. But if you think you can go out and buy a $300,000 dollar home, two Beemers, and a couple of Caddies, and think God is going to foot the bill, while you stay at home and draw welfare on unemployment, think again. The Bible tells us very plainly that those who will not work should not even eat. Sorry I got off subject a tad. Anyway, we are asking God to forgive us of our sins ... and He will, but listen to this next part.
AS WE FORGIVE THOSE WHO TRESPASS AGAINST US: Matthew 5: 43/44 tells us this. "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. Now let me put together the last two lines of the prayers and watch as I bring out some key words on this. Forgive us our trespasses AS WE forgive those who trespass against us. STOP ... Did you see what we are asking God to do? We are asking our sins to be forgiven just like we forgive others in our lives - MEANING - If you have someone you are holding something over, someone has hurt you, maybe way back in your life, and you have not forgive them ... then please note that God is only forgiving you as you forgive others. Sorry brothers and sisters, I did not make these rules, I am only telling them to you. But I am not going to softsoap this to you. Dig up those old hurts and forgive the others, even if they do not forgive you. I see it in families where brothers and sisters and even parents and children let things build up and carry this burden forever and ever. No, get it out and forgive. If they do not forgive you, then it is on them. And try hard, when you forgive, do not bring it up again. God does not cast up to us our past, we might bring it up on our own in our minds, but God, once He has forgiven us, it is over and done with. Please learn from this, from these lines in this prayer. One more time here ... God is going to forgive us just like we forgive others.
LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION: We are asking God not to let us get into places where there is evil, where temptations are strong. God is not the one who leads us into temptation, it is Satan, but if we are not walking right with God, and we are coming back, or we have been just giving lip service to God, we need to be really thinking about this line. God, please do not let me get into those areas where I am weak.
BUT DELIVER US FROM EVIL: Ok, so we walked ourselves into the temptation into areas of sin and now we are asking God to bail us out. God's the bondman, you might say. Dear God, pay our bail and get me out of here. Deliver me from that sin. Put the lines together and it reads like this.
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Or keep me on the straight and narrow, Lord, and keep the hands of Satan from me.
FOR THINE IS THE KINGDOM AND THE POWER AND THE GLORY FOREVER: Here we are telling God, it is His Kingdom, and He has the Power, and we need to give Him the glory, and we should do it all the time. This is, well sort of like the end of the TV show, or movie and you see the credits. God is the producer, the director, and He made the sets. He has the control. However, He gave us free will. Again, this closing line is a praise line for our Lord. Jesus, when telling us how to pray, put in all the five prayer types.
AMEN: When used at the end of a prayer it means "So be it". Amen could also be used when you agree with something someone else has said. Or if you are like most of us pastors, we like to hear an AMEN once in a while as people agree with what is being said about God.
Now let's go to prayer one more time today and now lets pray it ... and think about it, and give Jesus glory for it ... ready.
"Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil; For Thine is the Kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen."
Be blessed folks, and thanks for sharing your weekend with me. Must tell you I got to go up and sing with Duane, Dave and Neil last evening and I loved it. They let me pick the song and they put in the background. The song, my most liked old hymn, The Old Rugged Cross. Today I get to sing along with Dolores and Pam at Chapel Pointe in Carlisle at 2.00 PM ... if you want to stop in. Now go and share your blessings, and FORGIVE OTHERS ... love ya, dan.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Friday: Talking to God 5
"Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil; For Thine is the Kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen."
Good Friday Morning, my dear brothers and sisters, and today is Friday the 13th which means, we get another day of God's blessings. It is also another Friday when we pray for those who work in the field of Harvest for our Lord Jesus. Speaking of working in the fields of Harvest, please take time to come out and see the "old men" of Gospel Music, Dave, Duane and Neil. These guys, all former Couriers, have been on the road singing since the roads were dirt and the dead sea was still just sick. Tonight at 7.00 PM, they will be singing at Glenvale Church of God, on Route 850 just outside of Marysville Pa. These men were always good, and I will promise you they will sing some good gospel music with some "meat and potatoes" in them. I hope to see you there. There is no charge for the concert, however, a free will offering will be taken.
Talking to God 5: Again today I am taking a look at the Lord's prayer. I will also tell you now that I will be writing a special tomorrow in order to complete this writing this week.
THY WILL BE DONE: This part of our prayer, Thy will be done, we are praying that we want God's will to be done and not our own. Now so often when we ask for things we are really not wanting God's will to be done but our very, very own will. However, brothers and sisters, God's will for us is always better for us than our own will. Let me say that one more time. God's will for us is always better than our own will. Now not only did our Lord Jesus teach us to pray like this, He also set the example when he prayed in Gethsemane the night before He was put to death on the cross.
From Matthew 26: 39b: "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will." (NIV). Here we find Jesus praying about His upcoming death, and asking His Father in Heaven, must I go through with this, yet, He then prayed ... Thy will not mine be done.
ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN: Here we find that Jesus is teaching us to pray that things would be on earth like it will be in heaven. Now here we need to tie this together with that last line, Thy will be done ... and we are asking God for His will to be done right now for us, just as we will find it in heaven. Gosh, that would just be so nice. Here are some things I think we all need to look at this time. Our Lord Jesus wants us to pray that God's will is done on earth, and with that I ask you this -- Do you think it is God's will that people are murdered, that people will steal, that men will lay with men and women with women? Do you think God wants abortion? Of course not, this is also proved in the commandments. Just think how nice it would be if we all lived now according to God's will. It would be so nice -- no bad news, ever. Also, do you think God wants His name used as a swear word? NO, I don't think so. So my brothers, when we pray, please remember we need to do our part and live each day for Jesus.
GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD: Each day He does just that, and think about it folks, He really does supply our needs. Maybe we do not always have just what we want, but we do have what we need. It is so sad, for when we see people who don't have enough to eat, most often those same people smoke, drink, have more than one car, three or four televisions, and those cell phones, etc. Folks, God has promised us that if we have faith and believe, He will supply our needs ... AND HE DOES. However, Jesus is teaching us to not just expect it, but to pray for it, ask God for it, and of course we should always thank God for our blessings. And yes, I know this one man who will tell you all the time to share those blessings ... right, right.
More tomorrow, when I write a special to finish up this series on talking to God. Lets' pray again, our Lord's prayer.
"Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil; For Thine is the Kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen."
Go forth and share your blessings. And I hope to see you tonight ... or tomorrow, when Carry The Light sings at 2.00 PM at Chapel Pointe in Carlisle, Pa. Be blessed, and share ... love ya, dan.
Good Friday Morning, my dear brothers and sisters, and today is Friday the 13th which means, we get another day of God's blessings. It is also another Friday when we pray for those who work in the field of Harvest for our Lord Jesus. Speaking of working in the fields of Harvest, please take time to come out and see the "old men" of Gospel Music, Dave, Duane and Neil. These guys, all former Couriers, have been on the road singing since the roads were dirt and the dead sea was still just sick. Tonight at 7.00 PM, they will be singing at Glenvale Church of God, on Route 850 just outside of Marysville Pa. These men were always good, and I will promise you they will sing some good gospel music with some "meat and potatoes" in them. I hope to see you there. There is no charge for the concert, however, a free will offering will be taken.
Talking to God 5: Again today I am taking a look at the Lord's prayer. I will also tell you now that I will be writing a special tomorrow in order to complete this writing this week.
THY WILL BE DONE: This part of our prayer, Thy will be done, we are praying that we want God's will to be done and not our own. Now so often when we ask for things we are really not wanting God's will to be done but our very, very own will. However, brothers and sisters, God's will for us is always better for us than our own will. Let me say that one more time. God's will for us is always better than our own will. Now not only did our Lord Jesus teach us to pray like this, He also set the example when he prayed in Gethsemane the night before He was put to death on the cross.
From Matthew 26: 39b: "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will." (NIV). Here we find Jesus praying about His upcoming death, and asking His Father in Heaven, must I go through with this, yet, He then prayed ... Thy will not mine be done.
ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN: Here we find that Jesus is teaching us to pray that things would be on earth like it will be in heaven. Now here we need to tie this together with that last line, Thy will be done ... and we are asking God for His will to be done right now for us, just as we will find it in heaven. Gosh, that would just be so nice. Here are some things I think we all need to look at this time. Our Lord Jesus wants us to pray that God's will is done on earth, and with that I ask you this -- Do you think it is God's will that people are murdered, that people will steal, that men will lay with men and women with women? Do you think God wants abortion? Of course not, this is also proved in the commandments. Just think how nice it would be if we all lived now according to God's will. It would be so nice -- no bad news, ever. Also, do you think God wants His name used as a swear word? NO, I don't think so. So my brothers, when we pray, please remember we need to do our part and live each day for Jesus.
GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD: Each day He does just that, and think about it folks, He really does supply our needs. Maybe we do not always have just what we want, but we do have what we need. It is so sad, for when we see people who don't have enough to eat, most often those same people smoke, drink, have more than one car, three or four televisions, and those cell phones, etc. Folks, God has promised us that if we have faith and believe, He will supply our needs ... AND HE DOES. However, Jesus is teaching us to not just expect it, but to pray for it, ask God for it, and of course we should always thank God for our blessings. And yes, I know this one man who will tell you all the time to share those blessings ... right, right.
More tomorrow, when I write a special to finish up this series on talking to God. Lets' pray again, our Lord's prayer.
"Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil; For Thine is the Kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen."
Go forth and share your blessings. And I hope to see you tonight ... or tomorrow, when Carry The Light sings at 2.00 PM at Chapel Pointe in Carlisle, Pa. Be blessed, and share ... love ya, dan.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Thursday: Talking to God 4
And He said unto them when ye pray, say our Father which art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come Thy will be done as in Heaven so in earth, give us day by day our daily bread and forgive us our sins for we also forgive everyone that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.
Good Morning, my dear brothers and sisters. What a great morning, for as I am typing the message I am watching local news that is showing people praying for their jobs and the jobs of others. Yes, really praying is making the news in Harrisburg Pa. this morning. PRAISE GOD, PRAISE GOD.
Today is Thursday, and it is families days on this line, the day we pray for families. Yes, today I am asking that each of you pray for your own family, also your neighbors' family. And as always please pray for the family of God. That would be all who are born again, and remember we are to go forth and multiply, so let's go forth spreading the word of God.
Talking to God 4: Yes, we have been talking all week about talking to God and different ways we can do just that. Today and tomorrow, I want to look into the prayer that Jesus taught us to pray, the prayer we call the Lord's prayer and what it really means to me. Let me start by asking you this question. Have you ever stopped to think about just what this prayer means? Lets get to work!
Luke 11: 2/4
2 And He said unto them "when ye pray, say our Father which art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come Thy will be done as in Heaven so in earth.
3 Give us day by day our daily bread.
4 And forgive us our sins for we also forgive everyone that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil." (King James Version)
OUR FATHER === It means that we all have God as our Heavenly Father. Please note right now how Jesus told us to address our Father in Heaven. Jesus said "our Father". While God can be all things to us, God the Father is indeed just that. He is not a woman, not a child, male or female, He is not a large tree, or some hunk of iron we call cars. God the Father in Heaven is Father to each of us, each and every one of us. Even those who hate Him! Also let me point this out here and now. Jesus also said as recorded in John 14: 6, "I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to The Father except through me." In John 16: 32, Jesus said "But a time is coming and has come when you will be scattered each to his own home, you will leave me all alone, yet I am not alone, for My Father is with Me." There are other places in the Bible where God is referred to as The Father. We who are Born Again believers all have the same Father in Heaven. Now with all that said, does God The Father ever appear to us, or do we see Him in things? I do, and I am sure if you really think about it, you would also agree that God does indeed appear to us. No better time to think about it than in the spring as we see new growth coming up through the ground.
WHO ART IN HEAVEN. === This is telling me where our Father lives, where His home is, and where if we all love and honor Jesus and are Born Again in the Spirit of the Lord, and we believe that Jesus died for our sins and was risen from the dead, this is where we will reside. Meaning we are going to dwell in Our Fathers House. Wow, what a homecoming that will be. Listen to this also in the Bible and in the words of Jesus. John 14: 2: "In My Fathers house there many rooms, I shall go and prepare a place for you." We are also told that in Heaven there is a "Pearly Gate, and streets of Gold". And brothers and sisters, Heaven, where our Father is, is one of two places we can spend our hereafter ... Heaven or Hell, and it is our choice. Yes, it is our choice. Jesus paved the way, it is now up to us.
HALLOWED === This means to devote to holy or religious uses, to reverence as sacred. This by the way is a "Praise prayer". Remember I talked yesterday about the five types of prayer, this word when used in this prayer is Praise.
BE THY NAME === When this is put together with "Our Father who art in Heaven, Hallowed, be Thy Name, it is telling us that we always need to reverence His name. And we should reverence all of His names as He does have more than one. That message which I have written before will come again someday. It also tells us that His name, being Hallowed or Sacred, should never be used as a curse word or any part of cursing. Caution, we are to praise the Name of our Father, and not curse it.
THY KINGDOM COME === Listen to me on this, when we pray this prayer, when we pray this part of this prayer, we are asking God The Father to send our Lord Jesus back for us. Think about it as you pray this prayer. I am ready for Jesus to come back, are you? When you pray this prayer, have you ever given much thought that you are asking God to send Jesus back? Remember these words from John 14: 3: Where Jesus said: "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I WILL COME BACK and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am". We really need to be thinking about what we pray about, and that is no different when it comes to our Lord's prayer.
Ok, that is enough for today, please pray with me now, once again, and this time really think about what you are praying about. Today we are going to be a tad different as we pray it as record in Luke ... still the same prayer.
Our Father which art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come Thy will be done as in Heaven so in earth, give us day by day our daily bread and forgive us our sins for we also forgive everyone that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.
And Lord, please bless families this day, and may the family of God grow and grow, and please use us to help in the growth. In the name of Jesus, the Son, I am praying through today to You dear Father. So be it.
Now go forth sharing and sharing and sharing those blessings. Folks, I really want to tell you how important it is to share your blessings, even what others share with you. Yesterday, and I am not going to use names here, but yesterday I cooked and those of you who know me, know I love to cook. I made ham, potatoes, and green beans. When finished, I put some in containers for our freezer and also took some to some very, very dear friends of ours. Dolores had called them and told them I was coming. When I arrived, this family had invited their neighbor, a senior who lives alone, to come and eat. Folks, that is what I am talking about when I say share your blessings. You see how it works. First of all, God gave the blessings of the food to us, through our dollars earned and saved for retirement. I just cooked it up, and shared it with others, who then shared some of it on down the line. Folks, I hate to use myself as an example on this, I am not bragging, but trying to just show you how we should do this. In the words of Pastor Dr. Richard Denison, "We are blessed to be a blessing". Go forth now and share them ... love ya, dan.
PS. This Friday evening, tomorrow evening, 7.00 PM, Dave, Duane and Neil (former Couriers) will be singing at Glenvale Church of God on Route 850 Marysville Pa. These old boys still got it for the Lord and still sing like never before. As good as they always were, they are getting better and better... Directions 717 957 4573
Also Saturday, at Chapel Point in Carlisle, 2.00 PM, Carry The Light will be in concert. For more information, call me -- 717 991 0754 (cell phone).
Good Morning, my dear brothers and sisters. What a great morning, for as I am typing the message I am watching local news that is showing people praying for their jobs and the jobs of others. Yes, really praying is making the news in Harrisburg Pa. this morning. PRAISE GOD, PRAISE GOD.
Today is Thursday, and it is families days on this line, the day we pray for families. Yes, today I am asking that each of you pray for your own family, also your neighbors' family. And as always please pray for the family of God. That would be all who are born again, and remember we are to go forth and multiply, so let's go forth spreading the word of God.
Talking to God 4: Yes, we have been talking all week about talking to God and different ways we can do just that. Today and tomorrow, I want to look into the prayer that Jesus taught us to pray, the prayer we call the Lord's prayer and what it really means to me. Let me start by asking you this question. Have you ever stopped to think about just what this prayer means? Lets get to work!
Luke 11: 2/4
2 And He said unto them "when ye pray, say our Father which art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come Thy will be done as in Heaven so in earth.
3 Give us day by day our daily bread.
4 And forgive us our sins for we also forgive everyone that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil." (King James Version)
OUR FATHER === It means that we all have God as our Heavenly Father. Please note right now how Jesus told us to address our Father in Heaven. Jesus said "our Father". While God can be all things to us, God the Father is indeed just that. He is not a woman, not a child, male or female, He is not a large tree, or some hunk of iron we call cars. God the Father in Heaven is Father to each of us, each and every one of us. Even those who hate Him! Also let me point this out here and now. Jesus also said as recorded in John 14: 6, "I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to The Father except through me." In John 16: 32, Jesus said "But a time is coming and has come when you will be scattered each to his own home, you will leave me all alone, yet I am not alone, for My Father is with Me." There are other places in the Bible where God is referred to as The Father. We who are Born Again believers all have the same Father in Heaven. Now with all that said, does God The Father ever appear to us, or do we see Him in things? I do, and I am sure if you really think about it, you would also agree that God does indeed appear to us. No better time to think about it than in the spring as we see new growth coming up through the ground.
WHO ART IN HEAVEN. === This is telling me where our Father lives, where His home is, and where if we all love and honor Jesus and are Born Again in the Spirit of the Lord, and we believe that Jesus died for our sins and was risen from the dead, this is where we will reside. Meaning we are going to dwell in Our Fathers House. Wow, what a homecoming that will be. Listen to this also in the Bible and in the words of Jesus. John 14: 2: "In My Fathers house there many rooms, I shall go and prepare a place for you." We are also told that in Heaven there is a "Pearly Gate, and streets of Gold". And brothers and sisters, Heaven, where our Father is, is one of two places we can spend our hereafter ... Heaven or Hell, and it is our choice. Yes, it is our choice. Jesus paved the way, it is now up to us.
HALLOWED === This means to devote to holy or religious uses, to reverence as sacred. This by the way is a "Praise prayer". Remember I talked yesterday about the five types of prayer, this word when used in this prayer is Praise.
BE THY NAME === When this is put together with "Our Father who art in Heaven, Hallowed, be Thy Name, it is telling us that we always need to reverence His name. And we should reverence all of His names as He does have more than one. That message which I have written before will come again someday. It also tells us that His name, being Hallowed or Sacred, should never be used as a curse word or any part of cursing. Caution, we are to praise the Name of our Father, and not curse it.
THY KINGDOM COME === Listen to me on this, when we pray this prayer, when we pray this part of this prayer, we are asking God The Father to send our Lord Jesus back for us. Think about it as you pray this prayer. I am ready for Jesus to come back, are you? When you pray this prayer, have you ever given much thought that you are asking God to send Jesus back? Remember these words from John 14: 3: Where Jesus said: "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I WILL COME BACK and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am". We really need to be thinking about what we pray about, and that is no different when it comes to our Lord's prayer.
Ok, that is enough for today, please pray with me now, once again, and this time really think about what you are praying about. Today we are going to be a tad different as we pray it as record in Luke ... still the same prayer.
Our Father which art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come Thy will be done as in Heaven so in earth, give us day by day our daily bread and forgive us our sins for we also forgive everyone that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.
And Lord, please bless families this day, and may the family of God grow and grow, and please use us to help in the growth. In the name of Jesus, the Son, I am praying through today to You dear Father. So be it.
Now go forth sharing and sharing and sharing those blessings. Folks, I really want to tell you how important it is to share your blessings, even what others share with you. Yesterday, and I am not going to use names here, but yesterday I cooked and those of you who know me, know I love to cook. I made ham, potatoes, and green beans. When finished, I put some in containers for our freezer and also took some to some very, very dear friends of ours. Dolores had called them and told them I was coming. When I arrived, this family had invited their neighbor, a senior who lives alone, to come and eat. Folks, that is what I am talking about when I say share your blessings. You see how it works. First of all, God gave the blessings of the food to us, through our dollars earned and saved for retirement. I just cooked it up, and shared it with others, who then shared some of it on down the line. Folks, I hate to use myself as an example on this, I am not bragging, but trying to just show you how we should do this. In the words of Pastor Dr. Richard Denison, "We are blessed to be a blessing". Go forth now and share them ... love ya, dan.
PS. This Friday evening, tomorrow evening, 7.00 PM, Dave, Duane and Neil (former Couriers) will be singing at Glenvale Church of God on Route 850 Marysville Pa. These old boys still got it for the Lord and still sing like never before. As good as they always were, they are getting better and better... Directions 717 957 4573
Also Saturday, at Chapel Point in Carlisle, 2.00 PM, Carry The Light will be in concert. For more information, call me -- 717 991 0754 (cell phone).
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Wednesday: Talking to God 3
"Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil; For Thine is the Kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen"
Good Morning, my dear brothers and sisters. Wednesday, old hump day and on this line, and it is Salvation Wednesday. Let me see, if we get saved, give our very self over to our Lord Jesus, that in a way would take us over a big hump in life. Once we are saved, however, that is the time to really get started living for Jesus, putting aside our sins, repenting, and walking forward on our Christian Life. Growing each day in Jesus and helping others in His name. Will someone say Amen? Some people I think, believe that once they are saved, that is it, that you can just lay back and wait to get into heaven ... no, no, it is work time, for your faith without those works, well it is dead.
Please today pray for Pastor Charles Idler who has had a stroke, and pray hard warriors, as this man wants to preach some more. Pray also for Don, Eleanor, Sharon, and Bob Saylor. God's healing hand is needed in this house hold. Also pray for Dan Saylor and his family. Prayers also for Janet who is in a lot of pain, pray for Vicki who has many health issues.
Now this praise report ... I was at the doctor yesterday, got all my reports back from my heart tests, and all the blood tests back. Hey, I am alive and well, all tests are as good as they can get. Wow, I have been cleared for knee replacement surgery, but I am going to try and deal with the pain and give Dr. Jesus time to heal it. Folks, God is in the healing business.
Talking to God 3: Today, tomorrow, and maybe even Friday, I am going back in time to when I wrote about The Lord's prayer. This is the prayer Jesus taught us to pray. Years ago, I was preaching at Hope United Methodist Church. When it was time to lead The Lord's prayer, I forgot where I was. Miss Kim, Minister of Music, (Kim Murphy) bailed me out when I got lost, for when I stopped leading the prayer, everyone stopped praying ... except Miss Kim, who carried the prayer to the end. Thanks again, Miss Kim. Anyway, it made me think about was I praying this wonderful prayer that Jesus gave to us, or was I saying it? Meaning just putting together the words. So I went over the prayer and put a message together on what the prayer really means or what it means to me anyway ... and yes I am pulling notes from the past, I have written about this before.
Talking to God 3 Matthew 6: 9 "After this manner therefore pray ye." "Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. 10 Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil; For Thine is the Kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen" (King James Version)
As best as I can tell we have five different kinds of prayer.
1. Praise, 2. Thanksgiving, 3. Confession, 4. Intercession, 5. Petition --
Lets review these and then tomorrow dig into The Lord's Prayer.
1. Praise: When we give praise we are, in my terms, giving someone a pat on the back, or glory for something. In the case of prayer, we are giving God the glory, the honor for all things good. Yes, we are giving God the big old pat on the back.
2. Thanksgiving: This, in my opinion, is a lot like Praise prayer except we might be naming the things we are thankful for, and again giving God all honor and glory for them.
3. Confession: This one takes some time. Yes, confession is when we are owning up to the things we have done against God. We call them sins and we are confessing them over to God. Along with Confession, we need to Repent. If we do not repent from sins, our confession list will just grow and grow. The Bible tells us to Repent for the Kingdom of God is near.
4: Intercession: We pray this prayer daily on this line as we pray for others. We are indeed standing in the gap for those we are praying for. Sometimes we even pray for people who don't believe in prayer to start with. Intercession prayer is also praying for our enemies.
5: Petition: This to me is when we are going to God and asking Him (so often we seem to be telling Him) for things we need or sometimes want. We might be asking healing for our own self, or for food for our table. Or a new Caddy. I have already had my petition prayers seem to be like twisting God's arm ... or you might even say begging.
Here is some homework for you. Pray the Lord's prayer today, first try and pray it without looking at the words. Can you do it? Then ask yourself, when was the last time you really prayed it -- not just said it, but really, really prayed it? Tomorrow, we get started on it. In fact, let's just pray it together now.
"Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil; For Thine is the Kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen"
Go forth now sharing your blessings, talking to God, and working the fields of Harvest for Him.
Love ya, dan.
Good Morning, my dear brothers and sisters. Wednesday, old hump day and on this line, and it is Salvation Wednesday. Let me see, if we get saved, give our very self over to our Lord Jesus, that in a way would take us over a big hump in life. Once we are saved, however, that is the time to really get started living for Jesus, putting aside our sins, repenting, and walking forward on our Christian Life. Growing each day in Jesus and helping others in His name. Will someone say Amen? Some people I think, believe that once they are saved, that is it, that you can just lay back and wait to get into heaven ... no, no, it is work time, for your faith without those works, well it is dead.
Please today pray for Pastor Charles Idler who has had a stroke, and pray hard warriors, as this man wants to preach some more. Pray also for Don, Eleanor, Sharon, and Bob Saylor. God's healing hand is needed in this house hold. Also pray for Dan Saylor and his family. Prayers also for Janet who is in a lot of pain, pray for Vicki who has many health issues.
Now this praise report ... I was at the doctor yesterday, got all my reports back from my heart tests, and all the blood tests back. Hey, I am alive and well, all tests are as good as they can get. Wow, I have been cleared for knee replacement surgery, but I am going to try and deal with the pain and give Dr. Jesus time to heal it. Folks, God is in the healing business.
Talking to God 3: Today, tomorrow, and maybe even Friday, I am going back in time to when I wrote about The Lord's prayer. This is the prayer Jesus taught us to pray. Years ago, I was preaching at Hope United Methodist Church. When it was time to lead The Lord's prayer, I forgot where I was. Miss Kim, Minister of Music, (Kim Murphy) bailed me out when I got lost, for when I stopped leading the prayer, everyone stopped praying ... except Miss Kim, who carried the prayer to the end. Thanks again, Miss Kim. Anyway, it made me think about was I praying this wonderful prayer that Jesus gave to us, or was I saying it? Meaning just putting together the words. So I went over the prayer and put a message together on what the prayer really means or what it means to me anyway ... and yes I am pulling notes from the past, I have written about this before.
Talking to God 3 Matthew 6: 9 "After this manner therefore pray ye." "Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. 10 Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil; For Thine is the Kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen" (King James Version)
As best as I can tell we have five different kinds of prayer.
1. Praise, 2. Thanksgiving, 3. Confession, 4. Intercession, 5. Petition --
Lets review these and then tomorrow dig into The Lord's Prayer.
1. Praise: When we give praise we are, in my terms, giving someone a pat on the back, or glory for something. In the case of prayer, we are giving God the glory, the honor for all things good. Yes, we are giving God the big old pat on the back.
2. Thanksgiving: This, in my opinion, is a lot like Praise prayer except we might be naming the things we are thankful for, and again giving God all honor and glory for them.
3. Confession: This one takes some time. Yes, confession is when we are owning up to the things we have done against God. We call them sins and we are confessing them over to God. Along with Confession, we need to Repent. If we do not repent from sins, our confession list will just grow and grow. The Bible tells us to Repent for the Kingdom of God is near.
4: Intercession: We pray this prayer daily on this line as we pray for others. We are indeed standing in the gap for those we are praying for. Sometimes we even pray for people who don't believe in prayer to start with. Intercession prayer is also praying for our enemies.
5: Petition: This to me is when we are going to God and asking Him (so often we seem to be telling Him) for things we need or sometimes want. We might be asking healing for our own self, or for food for our table. Or a new Caddy. I have already had my petition prayers seem to be like twisting God's arm ... or you might even say begging.
Here is some homework for you. Pray the Lord's prayer today, first try and pray it without looking at the words. Can you do it? Then ask yourself, when was the last time you really prayed it -- not just said it, but really, really prayed it? Tomorrow, we get started on it. In fact, let's just pray it together now.
"Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil; For Thine is the Kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen"
Go forth now sharing your blessings, talking to God, and working the fields of Harvest for Him.
Love ya, dan.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Tuesday: Talking to God 2
"But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you."
Good Morning, my dear brothers and sisters. Another beautiful morning here at the Southern Location of the North Pole. And it is Tuesday, and that means it is schools day on this line, and the day we pray for our schools and all who have anything to do with them -- students, teachers, those who work with special needs children, the ones who work in the office, the ones who clean the bathrooms, the ones who drive the buses, and of course the parents. A good school needs a good team and to be a good school the team leader must be in touch with God and let Him have a voice over that school.
If you think for one minute that there are not Christians, good solid born-again Christians in our schools, think again. They may not all speak out, but a good many of them do. And speaking of our students, please pray for the youth group at the Duncannon (Pa.) Assembly of God Church as their youth pastor, Reverend Kevin Wagley, was killed in a car crash on Saturday afternoon. Of course, pray for his family also, and pray for The Couriers, Larry and Tim, as Pastor Kevin was their secretary and traveled with them on some of the trips.
Talking to God 2: As I write this week on Talking to God, I want to talk just a bit about maybe one of the hardest commandments that has been given us when it comes to prayer ... Matthew 5: 43 "You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' 44 But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be sons of your Father in Heaven. He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous." (NIV)
When God tells us to love our neighbors, He did not tell us to pick and choose, He did not tell us to love our neighbor on our left and not our right, or love the one across the street and not in back of our homes. God did not tell us who might be white to love just those who are white, or He did not tell those who are black to just love those who are black. God told us to love our neighbors, and if we love God we will do just that. Now here we find we are to pray for our enemies and love them also. Let me tell you, and I am going out on a limb on this and some are going to say I am judging ...
All of us might have some who hate us, yes even me, but we do need to pray for them, and pray and pray. Maybe we should spend more time talking to God about those who hate us than those who love us. Here I go now ... if you are one who will not pray for your enemies or show love for them, then maybe, just maybe, you need to check on the status of your salvation. If you find yourself hating anyone and not willing to pray for them and love them, maybe, just maybe, you are not really born again.
I know that I do have some people who would just love to cut me down if they had a good chance, and have even made noise to that effect, and let me tell you that I love them just as much and pray for them all the time. Now when I say cut me down, I do not mean in violence! I am talking words here, gossip stuff.
I also know of families where the family does not get along, and folks, please, please try and patch that up, and if you cannot by doing your part, please never stop praying for that family member that might be wavering from the family flock. You will be pleased at what God will do when you talk things over with Him. But please remember that God works in His time and I mentioned, sometimes we must look at the fact that no is an answer. Oh yeah, and then there are times we talk to God about things and it is not coming from our hearts. If you are doing lip service to God, you are wasting your time, for God knows your heart..
And in talking to God, if we do not have faith in God and in His dealing with what we are talking to Him about, then again I tell you we are wasting our time. You see, prayer, or talking to God as I am calling it this week, is the key to heaven, but it is our faith in God and the fact He answers prayer that unlocks the door to heaven. Prayer and faith go hand in hand. Prayer without faith is like a car with no engine, it just will not go anyplace ... Amen.
Dear Father in Heaven, as I pray today, I ask for healing at the Duncannon Assembly of God as they pray, laugh, cry, and remember their beloved youth pastor. ,Please pour out your love on these kids and also the kids to our schools. Lord, I pray that You will be in all of our schools and anoint the staff and the kids. I pray also for this line, and thank You for the messages You send me each day. Please Lord, help us to learn to love more and more each day and love all people, regardless of how they treat us ... In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.
Now go forth, talking to God often, and also talking to Him about how to share those blessings more and more each day. Remember, when you share from your blessings and do it in faith, you will find you get many more blessings ... love ya, dan.
Good Morning, my dear brothers and sisters. Another beautiful morning here at the Southern Location of the North Pole. And it is Tuesday, and that means it is schools day on this line, and the day we pray for our schools and all who have anything to do with them -- students, teachers, those who work with special needs children, the ones who work in the office, the ones who clean the bathrooms, the ones who drive the buses, and of course the parents. A good school needs a good team and to be a good school the team leader must be in touch with God and let Him have a voice over that school.
If you think for one minute that there are not Christians, good solid born-again Christians in our schools, think again. They may not all speak out, but a good many of them do. And speaking of our students, please pray for the youth group at the Duncannon (Pa.) Assembly of God Church as their youth pastor, Reverend Kevin Wagley, was killed in a car crash on Saturday afternoon. Of course, pray for his family also, and pray for The Couriers, Larry and Tim, as Pastor Kevin was their secretary and traveled with them on some of the trips.
Talking to God 2: As I write this week on Talking to God, I want to talk just a bit about maybe one of the hardest commandments that has been given us when it comes to prayer ... Matthew 5: 43 "You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' 44 But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be sons of your Father in Heaven. He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous." (NIV)
When God tells us to love our neighbors, He did not tell us to pick and choose, He did not tell us to love our neighbor on our left and not our right, or love the one across the street and not in back of our homes. God did not tell us who might be white to love just those who are white, or He did not tell those who are black to just love those who are black. God told us to love our neighbors, and if we love God we will do just that. Now here we find we are to pray for our enemies and love them also. Let me tell you, and I am going out on a limb on this and some are going to say I am judging ...
All of us might have some who hate us, yes even me, but we do need to pray for them, and pray and pray. Maybe we should spend more time talking to God about those who hate us than those who love us. Here I go now ... if you are one who will not pray for your enemies or show love for them, then maybe, just maybe, you need to check on the status of your salvation. If you find yourself hating anyone and not willing to pray for them and love them, maybe, just maybe, you are not really born again.
I know that I do have some people who would just love to cut me down if they had a good chance, and have even made noise to that effect, and let me tell you that I love them just as much and pray for them all the time. Now when I say cut me down, I do not mean in violence! I am talking words here, gossip stuff.
I also know of families where the family does not get along, and folks, please, please try and patch that up, and if you cannot by doing your part, please never stop praying for that family member that might be wavering from the family flock. You will be pleased at what God will do when you talk things over with Him. But please remember that God works in His time and I mentioned, sometimes we must look at the fact that no is an answer. Oh yeah, and then there are times we talk to God about things and it is not coming from our hearts. If you are doing lip service to God, you are wasting your time, for God knows your heart..
And in talking to God, if we do not have faith in God and in His dealing with what we are talking to Him about, then again I tell you we are wasting our time. You see, prayer, or talking to God as I am calling it this week, is the key to heaven, but it is our faith in God and the fact He answers prayer that unlocks the door to heaven. Prayer and faith go hand in hand. Prayer without faith is like a car with no engine, it just will not go anyplace ... Amen.
Dear Father in Heaven, as I pray today, I ask for healing at the Duncannon Assembly of God as they pray, laugh, cry, and remember their beloved youth pastor. ,Please pour out your love on these kids and also the kids to our schools. Lord, I pray that You will be in all of our schools and anoint the staff and the kids. I pray also for this line, and thank You for the messages You send me each day. Please Lord, help us to learn to love more and more each day and love all people, regardless of how they treat us ... In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.
Now go forth, talking to God often, and also talking to Him about how to share those blessings more and more each day. Remember, when you share from your blessings and do it in faith, you will find you get many more blessings ... love ya, dan.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Monday: Talking to God
And when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen.
Good Morning, my dear brothers and sisters. What a beautiful weekend we had at the Southern Location of the North Pole. 70 plus and just beautiful, a sign of the coming of spring. .. a lot of our plants have shown their heads to catch that sunshine our dear Lord sends.
Monday and the day we pray for our leaders in Washington and in our State Houses and also our Military and all those who serve this great nation, and also our police and firefighters.
Talking to God. A man walks slowly to his telephone to place a call to God. He really is not all excited about it, for he just does not like to hear all the numbers, and to be put on hold time and time again. But that call goes like this ... 1-800 CALLGOD ... Ring, ring, ring, ring ... Hello, this is Heaven and we welcome your call, please for English push 1, for Greek push 2, for Hebrew push 3, for Spanish push 4, for more choices push 5 ... So the man pushes 1. Hi again, please select from the following ... To speak to Saint Peter at the front gate push 1, to speak to old Gabriel push 2, to speak to other angels push 3, to speak to Mother Mary push 4, to talk about your blessings push 5, to speak to someone in the Mansion push 6 and to talk to God the Father push 7. So the man pushes 7 without hearing the rest of the message. The recording comes on again, sorry, to talk to God the Father you need to go through God the Son, push 8 for Jesus ... so the man pushes 8.
Hi there, this is the office of Jesus, to speak to his staff person, please press 1, to speak to Jesus, please press 2. So the man presses 2. Hi, you have reached the voicemail of Jesus, right now I am too busy to answer the phone, please press 1 to return to the main menu or press 2 for my staff person, or you may hang up and try again later ... Man hangs up......
Wow, sure am glad that calling on Jesus is not like trying to get in touch with someone in your senators office. Dear brothers and sisters, the Bible talks a lot about talking to God, or praying. This week I want to address that, including taking a look at the Lord's prayer. For today I just want you to know when you really need to talk to God, just go someplace quiet and talk to Him. HIS LINE IS ALWAYS OPEN, AND HE WILL ALWAYS HEAR AND ALSO ANSWER YOUR PRAYER. Now let me give you this warning -- you must take time to listen to God for His answer, and you must also know that His answer comes in His time and not ours, and also that no is also an answer.
Talking to God: "But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you." Matthew 6: 6 (NIV)
These are the words of Jesus, my dear brothers and sisters. Also when you talk to God, you do not need to babble going on and on, remember this, God already knows what you are going to say, so get to the point. Sometimes we pastors tend to pray a message. Years ago when I was Lay Leader at Hope United Methodist Church in Mechanicsburg, Pastor Dr. Richard Denison talked to me about not taking 10 minutes for a prayer. There are times, however, when pastors seem to be explaining to God all things. For example, Lord, here we are in sitting in church taking prayer requests from the flock, and several have needs. Pastors, as much as any, need to learn not to babble, and yes, God is once again pointing one of my messages right back at me ... gosh, He does that so often.
I also must confess that I do not talk to God as often as I should. While Dolores goes into her room each evening and talks with God, I so often do not, or not nearly enough. But again when we talk to God, get to the poin. I remember a few years back, our son Keith asked me to give the prayer before a big football dinner for the peewee football team. As I walked to the mike, Keith whispered to me, "Dad, remember, don't pray so long that the food gets cold." Point well taken. However, once in a while, when getting in front of a group of people that might not know God, we like to put a little more meat into that prayer.
Ok, enough for today, tomorrow more on "talking to God". Let's talk a bit now ... and let me see if I can keep it more to the point.
Dear Father in Heaven, thanks for all the blessings You have given us, thanks for taking care of our families and friends, and thanks for this line. I pray today for our leaders in Washington and in our State houses, and I pray for our troops and their families and all police and firefighters, asking you to watch over them and their missions, and please, Lord, keep their families safe while keeping them safe also. In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.
Go forth, talking to God, and sharing your blessings. love ya, dan.
Good Morning, my dear brothers and sisters. What a beautiful weekend we had at the Southern Location of the North Pole. 70 plus and just beautiful, a sign of the coming of spring. .. a lot of our plants have shown their heads to catch that sunshine our dear Lord sends.
Monday and the day we pray for our leaders in Washington and in our State Houses and also our Military and all those who serve this great nation, and also our police and firefighters.
Talking to God. A man walks slowly to his telephone to place a call to God. He really is not all excited about it, for he just does not like to hear all the numbers, and to be put on hold time and time again. But that call goes like this ... 1-800 CALLGOD ... Ring, ring, ring, ring ... Hello, this is Heaven and we welcome your call, please for English push 1, for Greek push 2, for Hebrew push 3, for Spanish push 4, for more choices push 5 ... So the man pushes 1. Hi again, please select from the following ... To speak to Saint Peter at the front gate push 1, to speak to old Gabriel push 2, to speak to other angels push 3, to speak to Mother Mary push 4, to talk about your blessings push 5, to speak to someone in the Mansion push 6 and to talk to God the Father push 7. So the man pushes 7 without hearing the rest of the message. The recording comes on again, sorry, to talk to God the Father you need to go through God the Son, push 8 for Jesus ... so the man pushes 8.
Hi there, this is the office of Jesus, to speak to his staff person, please press 1, to speak to Jesus, please press 2. So the man presses 2. Hi, you have reached the voicemail of Jesus, right now I am too busy to answer the phone, please press 1 to return to the main menu or press 2 for my staff person, or you may hang up and try again later ... Man hangs up......
Wow, sure am glad that calling on Jesus is not like trying to get in touch with someone in your senators office. Dear brothers and sisters, the Bible talks a lot about talking to God, or praying. This week I want to address that, including taking a look at the Lord's prayer. For today I just want you to know when you really need to talk to God, just go someplace quiet and talk to Him. HIS LINE IS ALWAYS OPEN, AND HE WILL ALWAYS HEAR AND ALSO ANSWER YOUR PRAYER. Now let me give you this warning -- you must take time to listen to God for His answer, and you must also know that His answer comes in His time and not ours, and also that no is also an answer.
Talking to God: "But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you." Matthew 6: 6 (NIV)
These are the words of Jesus, my dear brothers and sisters. Also when you talk to God, you do not need to babble going on and on, remember this, God already knows what you are going to say, so get to the point. Sometimes we pastors tend to pray a message. Years ago when I was Lay Leader at Hope United Methodist Church in Mechanicsburg, Pastor Dr. Richard Denison talked to me about not taking 10 minutes for a prayer. There are times, however, when pastors seem to be explaining to God all things. For example, Lord, here we are in sitting in church taking prayer requests from the flock, and several have needs. Pastors, as much as any, need to learn not to babble, and yes, God is once again pointing one of my messages right back at me ... gosh, He does that so often.
I also must confess that I do not talk to God as often as I should. While Dolores goes into her room each evening and talks with God, I so often do not, or not nearly enough. But again when we talk to God, get to the poin. I remember a few years back, our son Keith asked me to give the prayer before a big football dinner for the peewee football team. As I walked to the mike, Keith whispered to me, "Dad, remember, don't pray so long that the food gets cold." Point well taken. However, once in a while, when getting in front of a group of people that might not know God, we like to put a little more meat into that prayer.
Ok, enough for today, tomorrow more on "talking to God". Let's talk a bit now ... and let me see if I can keep it more to the point.
Dear Father in Heaven, thanks for all the blessings You have given us, thanks for taking care of our families and friends, and thanks for this line. I pray today for our leaders in Washington and in our State houses, and I pray for our troops and their families and all police and firefighters, asking you to watch over them and their missions, and please, Lord, keep their families safe while keeping them safe also. In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.
Go forth, talking to God, and sharing your blessings. love ya, dan.
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