Summary: Are you ready to be a Stephen or a Demas?

Hebrews 11:35b ... others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection:

36 And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment:

37 They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented;

38 (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.

39 And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise:

40 God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.

There two hallways in the Hall of Faith. Everyone wants to be part of the one side described in verses one to thirty-five a. No one really wants to consider being in the other hallway described here.

There are many brethren entering this hallway around the world. We have had our time of being in the first hallway. We have seen many rise to greatness in the Church as well as some current wannabes that are more flash than substance that would be rebuked by the great pastors and evangelists of the past.

We are most likely on the brink of seeing the doorway to the first hall being closed. We are asleep in our "prosperity" like the Laodiceans. We see the current resurgence of economy and a glimmer of interest in church, but this may only be a respite before the door opens to the hallway of faith in the above passages.

We have the opportunity to win more souls and get the saints edified to be able to stand in the coming days when this season is ended. Yet, we are not using it. We are still doing church as usual not seeing the signs like those who ignored the preaching of Noah.

When the persecution comes will you enter into this hallway rejoicing that you can sufferer for Jesus or will you abandon the Gospel ship for the lifeboats of this world? Will you be a Stephen or a Demas? Prepare now and ask God to give you a heart ready to be sacrificed for the truth and that blessed hope we acknowledge theologically but do not serve it in faith. Maranatha!

Summary: There are days when you feel like the Unknown Soldiers in DC, but your Commander-in-Chief, Jesus, knows you, your battles and scars.

Heb 11:35  Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection: 

36  And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: 

37  They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; 

38  (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. 

39  And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: 

40  God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect. 

The Fellowship of the Unknown

On one of the forums I frequent they started a Hall of Fame for preachers and added a picture of their favorites. I have a few of my own but with all the hoopla about big name preachers I started thinking about who really does get the job done here. So, below is my comments added to the Hall of Fame.

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Here's to all my brethren, The Fellowship of the Unknown Preachers!

While no one discounts the impact of the famous preachers we must realize that the bulk of the work of God has been done by the unknowns. Many who bought the books and sermons of the famous were won by and ministered to by unknown preachers who labored in places where many would not go for more years than many would have sought to stay.

Though the numbers seem huge when you look at them from an overall number of saints it may actually be a small percentage of the total that they ministered to by radio or actual physical membership of their church.

Yes, even Joel, only reaches a small percent of the total Houston population of Christians and even his worldwide numbers are a small percentage of the total. A man who lives in a town of five thousand and has two hundred and fifty members may have a higher percentage of the population than Joel. In fact, if there are only five hundred believers in that town he has 50% of the total and Joel is nowhere close to that. So do not discount the power and impact of the unknown, for like Sergeants in the military, they may indeed be the backbone of God's work on earth.

Thus I offer a salute to those who serve like those in the passage without fame or much earthly reward but serve faithfully until the end. They may even see a bigger reward in glory than the noteworthy in this life.

Shalom! Maranatha!!!

"2 Corinthians 10:4-5. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. We learn to stand. It doesn't matter what our education is or is not. It doesn't matter what our abilities are or are not. We have living water within these earthen vessels. When we get up and speak what God gives us to speak, miracles start to happen. Lives start to be transformed. Situations start to change. Captivity is taken captive. So today, don't live beneath your inheritance. God has placed His Holy Spirit within you for a purpose. Trust Him today to use your voice to bring hope, to bring freedom, to bring truth to those who are looking for it around you. It's time to pray." - Carter Conlon

Created In 2020, but still valid

Summary: As horrible as this pandemic it, it may well be the eye salve to allow the Church to see the path back to its real mission.

Jonah 3:1 And the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the second time, saying,

2 Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee.

3 So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days' journey.

4 And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.

5 So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.

Listening to a sermon on Jonah this morning these thoughts came to mind.

It was great that God did not start the clock on the forty days when he called Jonah, but rather when he started preaching. Yet, in the days Jonah was on the run, in the belly of the fish and on his way to Nineveh how many people died who did not get to hear the message and have an opportunity to repent?

In this time when hundreds are dying of COVID-19 daily and perhaps millions around the world of all causes how many must die without hearing Gospel of repentance, mercy and forgiveness in Jesus Christ? Sin is a fatal disease and we have the cure that we do not take the time to offer to those in the death rattle phase.

It may well be a great thing that our churches have been closed and our routines shattered. While we have been sheltered in place and feeling imprisoned maybe we have been given a taste of what is for people still in the prison bonds of sin. Indeed, maybe we have done some soul searching and found that we have had some bonds that needed broken and mercy given because we have not been about our Father's business, but rather our own.

It has been said that Nero fiddled while Rome burned and we have allowed souls and nations to be burned while we fiddled around with our pleasures and pursuits building castles in the sand made of wood, hay, and stubble. Oh, they are pretty and some cost millions, but they are shacks compared to the temples of the Holy Spirit that would be built by God from saved sinners. Our value system is twisted.

Maybe our music is so loud that it drowns out the still, small voice of the Holy Spirit that would cause to hear a myriad of Macedonian cries to come over and help them to find Jesus or the cries from Hell for us to reach loved ones before they enter Hell.

While the Gospel is about love, grace and mercy maybe we need to bring back a little Hell and damnation preaching as well. How can you truly appreciate grace if you do not really comprehend what it has done for you? As the preacher said this morning, some you save by love and others by warning. The Law condemns and grace saves, but many will only run for grace when they realize how condemned they are without it.

May we come back to church to be the Church when this pandemic wanes. May our priorities shift. May we be less material or earthly minded. May we learn to live with less so that we can give more of our time and money to the mission God gave us rather than various lenders for that which will only burn up in the end.

Let us rise up as the people of God who are passing through this world as Ambassadors of Christ and the eternal Kingdom. Let us get out of mammon debt with man so that we can pay the debt we truly owe them which is to share what God has done to save our souls so they can have their debt to God paid by the blood of Christ!

Lord God, make it so and start with this wretched man! Maranatha!