"Righteous Anger?"

Jonah 4:4 "Then the LORD said, 'Is it right for you to be angry?'"

God sure has a way of asking pointed questions. His inquiries also have a way of cutting through to the core truth of matters. Just prior to verse 4 Jonah had been whining about wanting to die, or worse yet wishing he had never been born. God in response deals with his core issue... anger. By the way, almost all depression is caused by anger turned within.

Anger so often has to do with pride, faithlessness and control issues. I know this from personal experience. After God asks Jonah this question, Jonah does not answer, he retreats to pout and stew over God's impending grace, still hoping for desolation to come down on Nineveh.

Sure is a lot of angry hate-filled speech lately under the guise of indignant self-righteousness. Is our anger right? Or do we just feel we have a right to be angry? Huge difference. Our rights and being right are so often based on feelings and not principles. Righteous anger is rare, yet we claim it often and tolerate and support it way too often. I am rarely right in my anger. Usually, l am indignant or vengeful or struggling with control or pride or a lack of faith.

Admit it with me.... when have we ever been right or even had a right to be so angry, so often. My easily accessed perturbance is really just a perturbance to God, more than any justified reaction to anything.

Dear God, help us differentiate between our feelings about alleged attacks on what is sacrosanct and just feeling "holier than Thou". Less anger and hate and more peace and love, please.

Convicted,
Pastor Fred 

"Elohim Ozer Li"

Psalm 54:4 "Surely God (Elohim) is my help (Ozer Li), the Lord is the One who sustains me."

I recently prayed that the Lord would sustain someone. I was trying to express to the Lord my concern for a friend that needed to keep going. They were wearing out and losing momentum. I prayed for the Lord to help them not to give up or give in. Though the verse talks about "my help" and "sustaining me", l applied it to someone else who desperately needed God to help them and sustain them. God, their Lord was the One they needed.

The reason l could pray that prayer with faith and confidence was because l know my Lord sustains me and He is the One l need to help me. Today do you need to pray for others what you have prayed for yourself? Or, is it the other way around... you need to pray for yourself what you pray for others. We can pray more effectively both ways.

With prayers for all,
Pastor Fred 

Written by Charles Stanley How much time and effort does it take for you to get ready to attend church? This varies according to your stage in life, especially if you have young children. But we all generally arrive groomed and well dressed as we walk into the sanctuary. However, how much time is spent preparing spiritually before we gather to worship? Is it possible to come into God’s presence corporately and truly worship Him if we haven’t prepared our hearts beforehand? Think about the baggage we often bring with us. Maybe we didn’t have time for prayer and Bible reading before church so we arrive in a spiritual deficit. Or perhaps the morning was filled with frustration and conflict, and we come in to church cranky and angry. Without a worshipful attitude, we have to wonder if we are truly ready to worship God. Jesus had an interesting conversation about worship with a Samaritan woman in John 4:20-24. She wanted to know where to worship. The Samaritans had built an alternate temple on Mount Gerizim, but the Jews worshiped in Jerusalem. Jesus’ response was undoubtedly surprising to her: “An hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father” (v. 21). He was introducing an entirely new way to worship that wouldn’t be centered in a particular place but in human hearts: “But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth” (v. 23). Today all over the world in various locations, Christians gather to praise and glorify God. Yet we must be careful to worship Him in truth, or we’ll veer off into shallow emotionalism. Jesus told the Samaritan woman, “You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews” (v. 22). Sincerity is no replacement for truth. Therefore, worship must always be in accordance with Scripture since it’s the only way we will accurately know who God is and how He desires that we approach Him. Worship is a response of praise, adoration, and reverence based on who we know the Lord to be. Although it involves our emotions, it flows from our knowledge of God. I believe one of the primary reasons we don’t praise and worship the Lord as we ought is ignorance. That’s why it’s so important that we grow in our knowledge of God as He’s revealed Himself in His Word. Otherwise, our sincere worship may be for a god of our own making rather than the one true God. Jesus also tells us to worship in spirit, which is our inner being. God is more concerned about the state of our hearts than He is about all our external acts of service and worship. That’s why it’s so important to prepare ourselves spiritually before we gather to worship. First, we need a submissive, obedient spirit. A rebellious, self-willed heart cannot worship the Lord because it’s in opposition to Him. The first mention of worship in the Bible is in the context of Abraham’s obedience to God in willingly offering Isaac as a sacrifice (Gen. 22:5). In fact, in Hebrew the word worship means to bow down in subjection and reverence: “Come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker” (Psalm 95:6). This is the attitude we should have as we gather to praise and honor God. Second, worship requires a repentant spirit. Sin is a hindrance to our relationship with God and makes our religious efforts worthless. The Lord doesn’t delight in praises offered from an unclean heart, yet sometimes we come to church with unresolved anger, unforgiveness, secret sin, or sinful attitudes. David understood the futility of worship apart from confession: “You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it ... The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart” (Psalm 51:16-17). Only then can we open our mouths in genuine praise. Third, we should have a God-focused spirit. Worship is not about our experience but God’s honor and glory. We come to exalt Him by praising His marvelous attributes and works, humbly bringing our petitions to Him in prayer, giving back a portion of what He’s given us, and learning from His Word. Although we are blessed by God when we worship Him, what we receive should never be our primary motive. In fact, the joy, peace, and delight we feel in God’s presence are simply more reasons to praise and thank Him. So how should we prepare to worship God each Sunday? I believe that public worship must be preceded by private praise. If worship is not a part of our daily lives, it won’t be all that it could be in church. In those quiet times alone with Him, we learn to know Him through His Word, and as our knowledge and understanding of Him increase, so will our love for Him. And it’s our love for Him that fuels and motivates us to praise and adore Him. When God becomes our greatest delight, worship is our joyous response. Prayerfully yours, Charles F. Stanley

“El Hakabodh”
 
Psalm 29:3
“The voice of the Lord is over waters, the God of glory (El Hakabodh) thunders over the mighty waters.”
 
El Hakabodh, our Glorious God of glory, is a rightfully jealous God. He does not share glory with others.

Forgive me Lord for attributing anything to anyone but you. It is really you that accomplishes any good thing through any of us. You are my Helper O God, El Hakabodh. You use people as you will, not for their own efforts deserving any glory. I can hear your thunder. I know you are over everything. I know all glory is yours. Remind me to glorify you and to attribute all goodness to you. I exalt you only!
 
Humbled again and again,
Pastor Fred

“Calamity Lovers”
 
Proverbs 17:5b
“He who is glad at calamity will not go unpunished.”
 
I must admit that I do enjoy a well-played practical joke. I will even confess that I laugh out loud usually when people fall in the water, or get a pie in the face etc… But there is a limit or point of conscience in my guilty pleasure if someone gets injured or embarrassed. I do not like when things go too far or get out of hand. How about you?
 
Do you differentiate between something that really is “all in fun” and hoping that an illness or natural disaster strikes someone or somewhere you do not like? Ever glad to see a “season-ending injury”? That is not o.k., or how about seeing someone humiliated?
 
God is watching and those who lack compassion should not expect it from God. God says there is a limit. It is probably more compassionate than ours. Would you really want something terrible to happen to prove your point, or take your “enemy” down? If you have any questions about limits or what qualifies as a calamity, He will entertain your prayerful inquiries. Just ask. If you are afraid to ask, you may already have your answer.
 
Humbly,
Pastor Fred

 "God's Reproach" 

 Proverbs 17:5 " He who mocks the poor reproaches his Maker..."

Never forget that God is the foremost and staunchest defender of the poor, also of the widows, orphans, and prisoners. It is too easy to mock, judge, ridicule and belittle the poor. They are powerless. Almost always they have been marginalized, victimized and minimized due to no fault of their own. The needy are easy targets for scorn.

All people are made in God's image. To mock the poor is to mock God. Whatever we do or don't do to the "least of these" we do or don't do to God Himself. He said so. The homeless, hungry, addicted and mentally challenged are too often the recipients of derision and castigation. I encourage you to see the hurting by any description as Jesus sees them, and respond accordingly. Either that or risk mocking God, which l do not recommend.

In His Service to the poor, and the widows, orphans, and prisoners too,
Pastor Fred 

"Cover Me"

Proverbs 17:9 "He who covers a transgression seeks love, but he who repeats a matter separates friends."

Wow, this is speaking volumes to my heart today. Let me share a few bullet points about this multi-faceted truth.

• We should do more covering than exposing of each other.
• It is a loving thing to do to not repeat things that don't really matter.
• Words can wound friendships. 
• Many matters shouldn't matter so much.
• When we are taking fire we need cover. 
• Minimize negativity in general.
• What the world needs now is love.
• If you really need to spread something, spread love.
• Love is a beautiful thing 
 
With His love and mine,
Pastor Fred

"Fervent Love" 

I Peter 1:22b "...love one another fervently with a pure heart."

Pretty straightforward and simple. Well, straightforward anyway. Love may be kinda simple but seldom easy. Especially when it comes to loving one another. So, let's define fervently and pure. Fervently is defined as... having or showing great warmth of intensity of spirit, feeling or enthusiasm. Pure is defined as... free from anything of a different, inferior or contaminating kind, free from extraneous matter.

So, fervently loving is a high-level commitment to excellence. A love like Jesus loves with. An unconditional love. Agape love. Willing to forgive, go the extra mile and to care with our whole hearts. Love one another fervently with a pure heart.

With His fervently pure love,
Pastor Fred 

"Walk Like Jesus" 

I John 1:6  "He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked."

There are a lot of verses in Scripture that encourage us to be like Jesus. Tall order. Impossible actually, but we ought to try harder. I can abide in Him, that is, live in Him, because He lives in me. In order to reflect Him l must let His light out of me. I should not trap Him inside me and only let Him out on Sundays, or when l am specifically speaking of Him. There should be a natural overflowing of Him out of me. More likely to happen when l am filled with Him. When l am conscious of Him it is so much easier to walk like Him. "Walk" in this verse refers to everything we do and say, everywhere we go. I can be more like Him, the more l abide in Him and allow Him to abide in me.

So, walk like Jesus today. More of what He would do, more of what He would say. More of where He would go. Enjoy your walk today.

In Him,
Pastor Fred 

 "Forgiven and Cleansed" 

1 John 1:9 "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

This verse has been coming back to me again and again as l search my heart for maintaining a right relationship with God. God is love and God is light. God is truth and God is just. These truths assure me that my confession is safe with Him. His response to my admission of failure is almost inconceivable. He forgives, which is so gracious and merciful, but beyond that, He actually cleanses the very thing that prevents my right relationship with Him from me.

I am overwhelmed by His willingness to restore me. Certainly, there may come consequences with my sinful choices, but between me and Him, it is made new. That becomes my basis for a renewed heart and mind.
Just writing this to you has given me the opportunity to renew my relationship with Him. I am blessed. Immediately l want to love others, forgive others and show His grace and mercy and be His light.

Trust Him now with your sins. Don't carry the weight of guilt and shame and take that out on others and become self-defeating. Be free now. Claim this truth. You won't regret it. I didn't.

In His grip,
Pastor Fred

“How Long?”

Proverbs 1:22 "How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity? For scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge."

This verse reveals three classes of those needing wisdom, and the downward progression of sin; 1) The simple or naive, who are ignorant;  2) Scorners or mockers, who commit more serious and determined acts of sin; and 3) Fools or obstinate unbelievers, who will not listen to the truth. Proverbs aims its wisdom primarily at the first group but the truth of Proverbs is directed at all of us even if we are not in any of these three groups.

To answer the question of "how long?" Seems the answer is "at least a little longer". We seem to love our ignorance. It can be blissful, right? We also enjoy our mocking and scorning with an insatiable appetite for putdowns and juicy tidbits. Our obstinance is strong as we stubbornly cling to whatever suits our fancy. We have so much maturing to do. These proverbs should not resonate with us so much. After all, simplicity, naivete, foolishness, obstinance, scorning, mocking and unbelief should get replaced by wisdom, understanding, willingness, encouragement, hopefulness, and love. I am convicted, and you?

Humbly,
Pastor Fred 

“El Sali”

2 Samuel 22:47 “The Lord lives, and blessed be my Rock (El Sali), and exalted be God, The Rock of my salvation.

God, my Rock, I am so grateful I can cling to You. When everything around me crumbles and falls, You remain. I can always rely on you my Rock! You are my salvation. When I am drowning in a sea of trouble you are there. “On Christ the Solid Rock I stand” as the old hymn says. I know I am ok when I see you as my Rock. Even just picturing You as my Rock I feel more secure, I know I am saved. Thank you for who You are. Help me see the Rock, feel the Rock, know the Rock. You are my Rock, God. I see you and know you got me.

I will cling to You, my Rock and my salvation,

Pastor Fred