Category: Faith Fix

Standing On The Word (ATP)

What do you do when the past tries to tug at you, trying to convince you to leave where you have been planted, to realize the truth of being planted?

Romans 12:2 (NKJV), “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

Maybe the most important instruction in scripture is seen here in Romans. The only thing that separates us from victory is really in this idea; you must renew your mind.

When we come into the faith, into a Word preaching church, there are many things that will be foreign to us. The very concept of spiritual things are opposite what we think. We must remember that the way we think never really helped us in our past. Sure it may have gotten you through here and there, but when there was real trouble, your way didn’t work. In 1 Corinthians 2:14 we are told, “But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” Also in Romans 8:7, “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.”

Our natural minds do not want or want to comply with the truth of God, but instead it always desires to lead us astray. This is why it is IMPERATIVE to transform our minds. A Christian who does not transform their mind will be a Christian who isn’t faithful very long. We transform our minds by submitting to God’s Word. We submit to God’s Word by acknowledging that it is truth above our truth.

You may ask, “What if I don’t believe something?” This is often a place where our faith will surely be tested. We have to decide within ourselves, either this is God’s Word or it is not. That decision will not change its truth but it will impact how we view the truth and what it can do for us. Truth will only be helpful to a person if they embrace it. For instance, it is true that if I am on top of the world’s tallest building and I step off, I will eventually hit the ground and bad things will happen. If I were not aware of this truth or if I refused to believe it, the knowledge of it is useless to me if I act in my lack of belief. The same goes for Christians. We are brought into the light (we are called children of light) but if we try to snuff the light out, we only hinder its effectiveness in our lives.

The Bible uses many references to being planted but one of my favorites is Psalms 92:13. It says, “Those who are planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God.” The understanding is implied, that those who are not planted cannot flourish God’s way. Not just as a pastor, but as a faithful Christian, I have watched this play out in many lives, including my own. Whatever we embrace, becomes our truth. Notice I didn’t say the Truth, there is a difference.

Christians are deceived when they are drawn away from what the Word says, and follow that thing which draws them. Before they know it their lives have changed, and I have never seen this for the better. The house of the Lord, the local church, is where God’s people come to have the wrinkles in their faith ironed out. Without that input, we open ourselves up to any and all the lies of the devil.

So what does one do? In 2 Timothy 1:13 Paul tells Timothy, “Hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.” You hold onto the truth and refuse to let it go. When you declare that God’s Word is your truth, and refuse to be moved from it, you will not be deceived. Thoughts come and go, changing like the weather based in however we feel in the moment. The Word of God, that stands forever!

Be Blessed,

Pastor Jeff

The Gift That Keeps On Giving (ATP)

1 Timothy 4:14 (NKJV), “Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership.”

Receiving such gifts with the laying on of hands will we know by the spirit what that gift is? Will we just walk into it? How do we develop that gift? 

One of the major purposes of the local church is to develop us to be useful for God’s purpose in our lives. The laying on of hands is one way that this development can occur, but it is only part of the process. We need to remember, too, that Paul is addressing Timothy who was a pastor, and so though the principles do apply, he was referring to his office specifically in the verse you mentioned. Paul was talking about when he laid hands on him when he was ordained to pastor. We see this in other scriptures such as in Acts 6:6, where they were being released into their specific ministry. When someone is sent into something they are called to, it is good to lay hands on them to impart giftings. In these cases, the gifting is the grace to do what they already know they are called to do.

That being said, as I said, the principle can apply to situations like you asked as well. I just wanted to clarify context before I moved on. What’s interesting is that if you read the chapters leading up to chapter 4, Paul had a lot to say about church order and qualifications for pastors and deacons. Let’s look specifically at what he says about the bishop (a bishop is also a pastor).

1 Timothy 3:2-7, “A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach; not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous; one who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence (for if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the church of God?); not a novice, lest being puffed up with pride he fall into the same condemnation as the devil. Moreover he must have a good testimony among those who are outside, lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.”

What I want you to notice is that out of all of the qualifications here to be a bishop, only one had anything to do with ability (able to teach). All of the others had to do with actions and character. This office, and similarly the office of deacon, which he goes on to talk about after this, refer to a developed character. Developed and proven character does not happen over night but over time. Essentially, these character traits are developed in a person as they prove themselves by faithfully serving others in the local church.

I’ll say this again, that giftings are developed in us over time with faithfulness. This applies even to those that may be imparted in us through the laying on of hands. I had hands laid on me many times before I knew what I was called to. As I faithfully served, those seeds were watered and cultivated, before they developed into ministry. The knowledge of it became clearer and clearer as I progressed. We see this all through scripture including with Jesus. Luke 2:52 says, “And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.”

We start with our gifts that we are born with or that we developed in the world. We serve God by serving man with these, and as we are faithful, God is faithful to add to us the grace we need to go higher. His grace is imparted to us, in part, through the laying on of hands. Faithfulness is the thing which develops those giftings in us. Paul went on to say in 1 Timothy 4:15, “Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all.” Any truly developed God-given gift will be apparent to all.

You will want to pay attention to this next part because this is truth that is unequivocal. Many times we may be called upon to do things that we don’t like, don’t prefer, or even have absolutely no skill at, things that seem boring, mundane, and sometimes even utterly useless. This, my friends, is the ultimate proving ground! This is where the rubber meets the road and Christians are often found faithful, or unfortunately not. I have seen this many, many times. Christians will be asked to do something by their pastor and they may do it for a little while, but then some reason comes up why they can no longer fulfill this need. What people don’t realize is that needs in churches don’t just go away because you moved on. People will leave their post and then their pastor has to look for someone else to be faithful. People often wonder where their blessing is and the truth is they left it back when they left that post. How long do we do what we are asked? Until we are no longer needed or we are moved on to do something more because we have been faithful where we were. Just so you know, when you are moved on, it is not because you have decided!

I want to end by saying, you may sense a particular gift in you, you may even know what it is. That’s wonderful! I would urge you however, let God bring it out. Many people have made the mistake of flaunting it or talking about it and all that does is hinder it. If anyone is truly called into something by God, if they are faithful, He will be sure to bring it to the surface. The local church is the dojo of the the Holy Spirit! The first thing I do if someone comes to me because they believe they are called to bigger things, is find a place for them to serve in the church. This place will rarely be what they are called to but it will give them opportunity to be faithful. If they are faithful, they will progress, and in time walk into what God has called them to. I say then, come, be faithful, serve with your whole heart, and watch what God develops in you!

Be Blessed,

Pastor Jeff

Faith Fix: Our Civic Responsibility

This is what the Lord dealt with my heart several days before the upcoming (now current) election. It was spoken this Sunday in our church service. Here is the transcription.

The burden to have the right people in authority is not as much about the church as it is the innocent who still need to know the Lord. It is about the unborn babies because it is them who abortion affects, not the believer. We don’t live for ourselves and yet we think that if the wrong person is in office it should have a great affect on whether or not God can bless us. It is not about us it’s about the unsaved, unknowing, lost world. That is not to say that judgment does not affect us. Because if the wrong things happen that is our fault. The blood of babies who needlessly die will be on the hands of Christians who did not do their part

We are no longer of this world but we are supposed to be the authority, in control and the help to this world. We are here as ambassadors of God to change the lives of people and to lead them into His kingdom.

If there’s anything the Lord has shown me in times of pandemic and times of trial is that He will not only just take care of me but He will increase me. Famine is not to have an effect on a faith-filled believer from the standpoint of how it would change their lives. God always takes care of His people who trust Him to do so.

Have you forgotten the exhortation which says if God is for us who can be against us and what can man do to me? (Romans 8:31) Men do not control our lives anymore than the devil controls our lives, unless we give them the authority to do so. The authority is not in the voting booth, the authority is in faith and in the confession of the faith-filled Believer. (Though voting right is important.)

Stand for what is right, follow peace, and do not fear any man. What can man do to the one who is in faith? The answer is, very little. We have the victory, we have the Christ, we have the Spirit of God indwelling each of us to lead us and guide us into all truth. What is your truth? What will you believe?

Be Blessed,

Pastor Jeff

Whatever Happened To Family? (ATP)

Whatever happened to family? Pastor touched on something so important recently about laying down your wants and desire especially for “me time” for your kids and your family. It’s sad. Family is one of God’s greatest blessings and time with family is often the first to sacrifice next to work, friends, and others. I believe other things are simply a distraction from the devil used to break down family. As a kid, my family was always together doing things or just being home together enjoying the people God blessed us with.

1 Timothy 5:8 (NKJV)

But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

Family is an interesting thing, if for nothing else you don’t get to pick them. It’s maybe one of the few things in life that are really left to chance. Or is it?

As many of you know, I love to break scripture down. I believe we can have a better understanding of scripture when we understand why certain words were used more than others. After all, when we talk to each other, don’t we choose our words to reflect our intentions? If we do, why would we expect God wouldn’t?

In the above scripture there are a few things I want to focus on.  They are the words “provide” and “household”. The word provide means to consider in advance, think of beforehand, to provide for one, to take thought for, or care for a thing. Household can be either ones natural family or their spiritual one (God’s family). I believe both are equally significant and they are symbiotic.

The reason people have relaxed their standards for so many things is because people as a whole have relaxed their view of the Lord. See, even though our society never was completely Christian, it was strongly influenced by Christianity. Founding fathers established this country based in ideas stolen from scripture. That is not to say that everything that was done was scriptural, as we know many things were done wrong. But, the foundation for this country, was that of a Godly origin.

Especially in recent years we have watched the degradation of society and it’s fall away from the commands of God. As people have “progressed” they have embraced things that are wholly unholy. This shift in acceptance has been systematically shunning everything God holds sacred. It is no wonder that a few generations pass and the children have no concept of what sacred even is, nor do they care.

Family is a God ordained construct. God desired a family and so He created one, and thus humanity was born. Humans have since the beginning had a problem staying right with God. And shunning family? We see this as early as Cain and Abel. Cain killed his brother out of his own emotion, allowing it to rise above truth. As humans grow increasingly distracted by their desires, they start laying aside what truly matters. Family is on the chopping block.

This isn’t just a problem with our natural families but equally with our spiritual ones. We have a society that has been rebuilt on the “you do you” mentality, and this is exactly what they do. Our relationship to our natural and spiritual families are not separate but tightly woven together. They are attacked by the same way of thinking and so when one suffers, the other does as well.

Do we have a choice then in our families? We absolutely do! If we decide to neglect them, the family structure breaks apart. What we are left with is something that is disorderly and dysfunctional, not blessed by God. Whatever is not blessed by God is subject to the curse.

So what must one do to change this undoing? We must establish the heart of God, first in ourselves, then in our children. As we raise up new generations that embrace God’s truth, the heart of God, which is His family, will be reborn and rise to its rightful place of importance. Each family living as they should will influence others to do the same.

Joshua 24:15

And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”

Be Blessed,

Pastor Jeff

Knowing Your Place (ATP)

The Bible says for a woman to be a quiet and gentle spirit. This is what God wants to see in women but what about when there are things that someone just shouldn’t tolerate.

1 Peter 3:3-4 (NKJV)

Do not let your adornment be merely outward—arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel— rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.

The Bible gives us many directions on how one should live their lives. Too many times people look at the specific directions, to men, to women, to pastors, to sheep and fail to recognize the heart of God on the matter. The reason I bring this up is because we have to understand there are several different points of view we can look at and we have to understand that there is purpose in why certain writings were chosen for scripture and others weren’t.

First we must know that, especially in the epistles (the letters to the churches), they were written to address specific things going on in the lives of actual people. It would be the equivalent of me as a pastor sending a text message or email to somebody about something going on in their personal life and helping to address that situation. Afterward, God inspired people to save those emails in a collection, to help others by their principle. Many times while counseling someone, the anointing has come on me to help them and what I’ve said I know is from God. This is especially because I could have never come up with something that good on my own. God still speaks today!

I say all that to say this, sometimes people have used the apostles’ conversations to wrongly put rules on people or to control certain groups. Think about how in the name of religion, people have suppressed women over the years. That’s not to say that certain scripture is not intended for the group it talks to to heed, but we must understand the whole of scripture is written to counsel the whole of people.

I know that’s a long introduction, but I felt I needed to establish God’s  heart on His Word before I proceeded. I would say, judging by what I know of the Word, that God desires us ALL to have a quiet and gentle spirit. However, I want to bring up another equally important one; Romans 12:18 also instructs us, “If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.” Let me draw your attention to the words, “As much as depends on you.”

As we all have certainly discovered in life, not all that happens depends on us. Have you ever woken up in the very presence of God and filled with joy, only to go to work and have that wonderful coworker who is possessed by satan himself greet you with sorrow? You know the one, that no matter how nice and loving you have tried to be seems to be dead set on making your life as miserable as they possibly can? Of course I’m using some sarcasm there but I’m illustrating some truth, sometimes it just does not depend on us.

1 Peter 4:12 tells us, “Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you.” Again sometimes it just does not depend on us. God didn’t say make the world right when others are wrong, He said do as much as depends on you. In other words, you focus on you being right regardless of what’s happening around you.

Sometimes people will act in ways that we have to separate from. I knew a man once who had a family whom he solely provided for. His job started doing some extremely unethical things and required him to do the same if he were to continue in his employment. He decided to do right and leave that company. God fully took care of him and his family and still does today. That company however went from being incredibly profitable to almost nonexistent and that guy I knew never turned them in. He took the high road, of peace and gentleness, leaving quietly and he was blessed for it.

Sometimes we must make decisions that are not easy. Sometimes, to maintain peace we must separate ourselves from people and situations. We must understand that we don’t have place to correct all people who are wrong. Sometimes we must just quietly and gently bow out. Even as a pastor I have to recognize that there are some people who I cannot correct, even those in my church. If someone refuses to hear from me, I have no place to speak into their life. This principle applies to all of us.

This is why being Spirit led is so important. God will not call you to reach everyone, but His spirit will show you who you can. Some things in the world will never be changed with our words, but through our prayers. Some things won’t be changed at all. We must learn and focus on hearing from God and getting His heart in every situation. That’s where God’s peace is always found.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

To everything there is a season,

A time for every purpose under heaven:

A time to be born,

And a time to die;

A time to plant,

And a time to pluck what is planted;

A time to kill,

And a time to heal;

A time to break down,

And a time to build up;

A time to weep,

And a time to laugh;

A time to mourn,

And a time to dance;

A time to cast away stones,

And a time to gather stones;

A time to embrace,

And a time to refrain from embracing;

A time to gain,

And a time to lose;

A time to keep,

And a time to throw away;

A time to tear,

And a time to sew;

A time to keep silence,

And a time to speak;

A time to love,

And a time to hate;

A time of war,

And a time of peace.

Be Blessed,

Pastor Jeff

How Far Will You Go? (ATP)

1 Thessalonians 2:18

Because it was our will to come to you. [I mean that] I, Paul, again and again [wanted to come], but Satan hindered and impeded us.

If we are overcomers as Christians and the devil is only as strong as we allow him to be in our lives why was he successful in hindering Paul? Here it seems Paul is portraying Satan as being powerful or at least more powerful than I thought he was.

John 8:44 (NKJV)

…When he (the devil) speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.

Satan is a master manipulator, though I really don’t like to give him credit for anything. His most powerful weapon is in his convincing lies. After all, he’s had a very long time to perfect this and he knows humans and our weaknesses. He will convince people of all kinds of things and if you are not founded in faith you will believe them thinking it’s your own ideas. Many people, without realizing it, follow the devil thinking they are doing right. Recently some people who were trying to close our church down thought that they were doing a good thing for the community. They had no idea that their attempts to hinder us, were completely satanically inspired.

Satans power is and always has been in manipulating humans to use their authority, power, or efforts in the wrong way. Think about the best trouble makers you’ve either known or heard of. They were never content doing something on their own but often would convince others to join in on their bad ideas. When I was younger I had a group of friends that perfected manipulation. We would constantly manipulate each other to do whatever hair-brained idea we’d come up with because we didn’t want to go at it alone. Likewise the devil will look to use any willing vessel, often times even other believers!

Our authority is as sure in the Word as our victory. However, just because we have access to something does not mean we will access it. We have been given free choice, not just us Christians, but all of humanity. Have you ever been trying to be right, and someone just keeps getting in the way of that? Others doing things seemingly like they know the perfect thing to do to stop or hurt you? It’s amazing that people can accomplish anything sometimes.

I want to draw your attention to the word hindered in your scripture. This word also means, be tedious unto. Hindered doesn’t mean stopped, it means slowed. When winter in Western NY hits us, it affects us much differently then say a little snow in the south. We can get feet of snow, but because we are accustomed to it, it doesn’t stop us though driving to the store may take a bit longer. The trials that come our way, inspired by satan, carried out by humans can slow us down. Standing on God’s truth ensures they won’t stop us.

This is what it is like with walking out our faith. The devil can’t stop us but he will send every person or thing he can in our way to try. The key is not what he does, but how we respond. A little further down in 1 Thessalonians 3:3-4, Paul continues by saying, “that no one should be shaken by these afflictions; for you yourselves know that we are appointed to this. For, in fact, we told you before when we were with you that we would suffer tribulation, just as it happened, and you know.”

Paul knew he would face opposition. We find this in Acts 20:23 , “except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that chains and tribulations await me.” Here’s the thing we can be sure of, the devil will do whatever he can to stop us from fulfilling God’s plan. We have to hold on to the fact, through every trial, that we hold the victory. Certainly being beaten and thrown into jail time and again could be disheartening. This is why the knowledge of victory is so important, and why Paul encouraged the Thessalonians with these words.

Jesus said in John 16:33, “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” Our peace will be found in His promise of victory. We cling to the words of Christ remembering that regardless of what comes our way, if we trust Him, we always end up on top! Though we may be hindered from time to time, we cannot be stopped! We stand on the Word and we stand until the end, we are the Body of Christ!

Be Blessed,

Pastor Jeff