The Dayspring

Dear Weekly Readers!

There is only a little more than a week before we celebrate the best and most precious gift ever given to anyone in the history of the world.   A precious baby was born, for the express purpose of redeeming falling mankind.   To save you and me!  To save us for all eternity.  Nothing can compare to the Love of God that we have in Christ Jesus!

Oh, that God would reveal ever more this great act of Love that was given to us in the person of Jesus Christ.  If we could see the full extent of this, we could not contain the joy that we would have.  So today we pray that the Lord will fill us to overflowing with the Joy of the season, which comes through faith in the completed work of His Son Jesus Christ! 

Enjoy this article by Pastor Ron Holmgren.  Also, please pray for this dear pastor as he has liver cancer.   He is the head pastor of a very large congregation in WA, USA.   

THE DAYSPRING

And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied, saying... And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways; To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins, Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us, To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.  Luke 1:67, 76-79
T HIS NAME OF OUR LORD is descriptive. Without much stretching we can grasp some of the meaning. We can see the dark night with all its questions, fears and mystery passing away as the sun rises to its zenith and all of darkness flees. The sun is not slowed down. Darkness must yield. As the Apostle of love explains, darkness could not apprehend, attain, nor overtake it.

Shadows of the night are replaced with full revelation. All living things reach for the warmth of the rays and their colors are radiant as they are seen reflecting the sun. When Paul wrote of the whole of creation groaning and suffering in pain together, it was waiting for the deliverance from corruption as we all do. And now is come salvation, now is the revelation of all things which were hidden when darkness prevailed. Rejoice my friend, and sing of the Light that has come to us who sat in darkness.

Jesus is born in Bethlehem and He has brought salvation with Him. He will lead us out of the darkness into His marvelous light. The father of John the Baptist preached the words, "the Dayspring from on high hath visited us." He knew that his son would precede the great deliverer Jesus Christ. John would prepare the way of the Lord and point Him out to those who looked for deliverance.

This is the beauty of Christmas. Light has come and we can walk in the light as He is in the light. When I was a boy, our family had many traditions. We made preparations for the season of Christmas with decorations, gifts and special food. The Norwegian heritage included so many things like sweets, sausage, fish and meat balls. I well remember those days with fondness.  Grandparents and other relatives gathered together and a festive atmosphere filled the house. Lights and candy, snow hoped for even if it seldom came in our area.

And with all this the church sang and talked of the incarnation of Jesus. Many times we worry that the meaning of Christmas is lost in all the festivities. It may be so, but we still can celebrate and share with one another the joy of His coming in our traditional ways. I believe just the fact that the world puts up all the lights and decorations is a testimony to the great effect Jesus has and continues to have on the whole world.

We continue to have traditions at home with our family. I pray our children remember these days as special and full of love, sharing and joyfully remembering the coming of the Lord Jesus in the manger.

God bless you this Christmas and through the coming year with the revelation of His love. Jesus came for you and for me to give us light and salvation through His ultimate gift on the cross of Calvary.

 ~ Pastor Ron Holmgren

Advent

Dear Weekly Readers!

God’s Peace!

Yesterday I used the text from Matthew 3, Verse 1-12, for the sermon in my home church.  In this text John the Baptist was sent to prepare the way for the coming of the Lord!  What was the message of John the Baptist?  Repent.  The Lord is coming.  Is your heart prepared for His coming?  How is one made ready?  By Repentance!  There is nothing that we can do of our own that will prepare us.  We can act in whatever way we want, but nothing is acceptable, except that we acknowledge that we are sinful people, and we humble ourselves and turn toward our God in daily contrition and repentance!  Acts 2:38

 ³⁸ Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

God’s Word has all the answers!  We must read it, and believe it by faith!  Let us pray that God through His Holy Spirit would reveal it to each of our hearts.

Please enjoy the article below by Pastor Orval Wirkkala

 

Dearly beloved,

"For I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel." Genesis 3:15. Through the Promise given in the Garden of Eden after mankind fell into sin, God has revealed that He is for us.

We are now in the season of Advent, a word that means arrival or coming. It is a time of expectant waiting, a time of joy and of excitement.   And as we continue in this Advent season, and as we await the celebration of the first coming of Christ to His world, we experience a growing expectation, excitement and anticipation as we attend worship services, go caroling together, gather with family and friends, or read, meditate and pray over Advent and Christmas texts from Bible. There is a sense of excitement in the air, even in the dark winter nights of life, that our brighter day of joy is coming soon. Even though we have had many Christmas celebrations come and go, nevertheless each year it is as if it is the first one all over again.  For God is coming to be with us. (Isaiah 7:14)

Isaiah by faith 700 years before Christ, was able to peer into the future of the effects of the first coming of Christ, for he spoke of being able to draw water out of the wells of salvation (12:3) and of how the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. (Isaiah 35:10) For God not only is for us, but He came to be with us so that He might be in us.

Having experienced the forgiveness of sins through Christ's atonement through faith, we live under the covering of Christ's righteousness and through His indwelling Spirit we belong to Christ alone.  Because we are His, our desire is to follow Him......so then watching and praying is a natural outflow of our union with Him.  It is not a must, a have to, but I want to and I will.......

We are like a child awaiting the day when they will be able to open their Christmas gift, that sits under the tree and which has their name on it.  We are waiting and longing, waiting and longing......

May we have a blessed Advent season and a Merry Christmas!

Pastor Orval Wirkkala

 

The Great Light

Dear Weekly Readers!

God’s Peace!  

We are now moving onward into the Advent season in the Christian calendar.  Perhaps on Sunday we will hear of John the Baptist and his message to the world to prepare for the coming of the Lord!   Are we prepared for our Lord to come?  Have we repented?  Do we live in daily repentance?  Do we seek God’s face and will in our lives, or are we following or chasing after the worldly possessions and goods?  Do we seek after those things that satisfy not, or are we pursuing the Lord and seeking to learn of Him?  Are we looking to partake of the Bread of Life and the Living Water?   Let us ponder these things during this season leading up to His birth!

Please enjoy another article by Pastor Elmer Y.

The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined… For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 9:2, 6

PROPHET ISAIAH WAS CALLED BY God at a time in history when the nation had experienced great prosperity and affluence but things were not going well for them. There was indifference, violence, corruption, fraud, abuses of power and immorality. They were worshipping idols and had forsaken the true God. The people walked in darkness.

It was time for God to reveal Himself to His creatures. He gives us hope for we have a gracious and loving Father who wants to draw us to Himself! This hope is found in the Christmas Child, the Savior of the world. Apostle Matthew reminds us of Isaiah's words when he says, The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up. From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. (Matthew 4:16-17)

The words of Isaiah written over 700 years before the birth of Christ had now come true. God never fails to fulfill His promises. God's timetable is not like ours but His Word and promises are sure for He is everlasting truth. But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. (Galatians 4:4-5)

The Father in heaven seeks us. No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him. (John 6:44) The Father by His grace reveals the light to penetrate our souls, and leads us to repentance. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. (1 John 4:10)

The heavenly Father revealed the birth of the Savior to the shepherds in Bethlehem and it was the Father in heaven who led the wise men to the Christ Child by the bright star. When the light was revealed to them they believed and obeyed and they started on their journey to the Christ Child. When we are indifferent and do not see our need for a Savior, we are in darkness and blind in our trespasses and sins. This Light must come to us also.

When this Light is revealed to us, we see the holiness of God and our sinfulness as Isaiah did when God called him. Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts. Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.

(Isaiah 6:5-7) We come to know that we cannot redeem ourselves from our sins. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)

When we are reconciled to God, this Light comes to live within us. He leads us into all truth. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. (John 14:6) We become children that desire to do the will of God and shun evil.

The shepherds and the wise men rejoiced and glorified God when they found the Christ Child. When we possess the greatest Christmas gift ever given, the Lord Jesus Christ, we too can rejoice and praise God. We must be willing to share the good news and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear. (1 Peter 3:15)

Isaiah gives five titles to this Child:

• His name shall be called Wonderful.  He is all in all. He keeps His church in His care. Not even the gates of hell can prevail against Him (Matthew 16:18).

• He is called Counselor. Truth comes from Him. His Word is truth. Do we lack wisdom? Ask Him!

• He is called the Mighty God. Jesus Christ is God, who was victorious over Satan, death and the world. He is God with us! Jesus said, "All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth (Matthew 28:18)."

• He is called the Everlasting Father. He protects us and preserves us. He will not fail us, nor forsake us. He is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and end, the first and last. He intercedes for us before the Father.

• He is the Prince of Peace. He came to reconcile the world to God, to turn people from darkness to His Light, from the power of Satan unto God. He gives us peace through the forgiveness of sins.

These five names teach us that Jesus Christ is all in all and we can trust Him no matter what we face. He came as a Baby in the manger so we would not be afraid to draw near to Him. He leads us to the Father, for He is one with the Father (John 10:30)!

THE WORLD IN IGNORANCE MAY try to remove all mention of Christ from Christmas, but the world will never succeed in destroying His power and the wonderful message of the forgiveness of sins in the name and blood of Jesus. The birth, death and resurrection of Jesus truly changed the world. He is truly the King of Kings! The day will come when at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:10-11)

Perhaps many are confused and fearful of what is happening in the world around us, along with our personal trials. However, we can rejoice and praise God as we celebrate this Christmas season, secure in the knowledge that God is still on His throne and will see us through whatever the new year may bring. ~

Pastor Elmer Yliniemi

Wolf Lake, Minnesota

The Truth Will Make You Free

Dear Weekly Readers!

God’s Peace!

I first of all want to thank you for all the prayers you said for our recent preaching trip to Kenya, Africa.  The trip was very blessed, and the Christians there asked me to give greetings to all!  So be greeted from them, and please remember them and us and in your prayers!  I hope to be able to publish the Weekly Diner each week again!

May God Bless your week!  John R.

 

The Truth will make you free:

IPROMISE TO TELL THE TRUTH,
the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me God." These words are spoken by witnesses in a court of law with one hand placed on the Bible. Unfortunately many still lie even after this oath. Some high-ranking individuals in politics and business who are caught and found guilty are punished by the law. The early church already faced the same evil, soon after Pentecost. But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession, And kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles' feet. But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? (Acts 5:1-3) Ananias and Sapphira were found guilty of lying. They thought they were lying to Apostle Peter and the believers in Jerusalem but Peter says …thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.
(Acts 5:4)

Truth is one of the attributes of God! Jesus says, God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. (John 4:24) Jesus also says of Himself, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. (John 14:6) When we lie, we offend God and someday each of us will give an account of ourselves before God

(Romans 14:12).

We don't know much about this couple whose names were Ananias and Sapphira. We are told that Satan had filled their hearts to lie to the Holy Ghost. Even as believers, Satan tries to make us stumble, for there is no truth in him. Satan is the father of lies! Jesus says in John 8:44: Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

These words were spoken to the Jews which believed on Him (John 8:31). Peter gives this warning to the Christians of his day, and to us today: Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour. (1 Peter 5:8) Paul tells us Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14).

What was the sin of Ananias and Sapphira? Were they greedy? Were they stingy? Their sin was lying to God and God's people by trying to make themselves appear more generous than they really were. We all know that certain actions are considered good and bring the praise of men which our flesh seeks.

Why was their punishment so harsh? Who of us today would be alive if we were punished by death for every untruth uttered because we wanted to appear better than we really are? Lying and hypocrisy can destroy the church by preventing the Holy Spirit from working. It also destroys our testimony about Christ.

An example had to be set for the early church that it must be founded on the truth. This lie was not from fear of consequences or even an overwhelming temptation. There was no command that they had to sell their land and give everything. It was a deliberate act of hypocrisy in which they agreed to do something that would appear like something it was not.

The church is made up of sinners. We daily sin in thought and deed because we are sinners in need of a Savior. Jeremiah already tells us, The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? (Jeremiah 17:9)

When we recognize our sin, we can rejoice that the Gospel about God's great mercy toward us through the blood of Christ can cleanse and renew us. But the warning is given to us to be children of truth. John writes, I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth. (1 John 2:21) Paul writes to the Roman Christians, What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? (Romans 6:1-2) For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. (John 1:17)

For Apostle John, grace and truth go hand in hand. God's boundless grace does not wipe out the attribute of truth. We live in a highly competitive world and are tempted to not tell the whole truth so we can gain the upper hand in our situation. The gains we make from lying are not worth much, compared to the blessings received from telling the truth. When we tell the truth we are never trapped in a lie. We don't need a good memory if we tell the truth. If you have a habit of stretching the truth, being untruthful in little things or have deceived someone, confess it to that person and to God and put it away in the precious name and blood of Jesus Christ. It may be humbling, but it is the first step to restoring integrity in your life.

And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. (John 8:32)

Pastor Elmer Yliniemi

Wolf Lake, Minnesota

Christians Are Like Sheep

Dear Weekly Readers!

In every congregation I have been blessed with the opportunity to visit around the world in the past few years, I have noticed the beautiful little children.  They are so precious in the Lord’s sight.   Often times we as adults view them as the future of the church.  This is in part true, but it also falls very short.  The children are the church today!  All of those that believe in Jesus by faith are in the one true church of God!   Children were so loved by Jesus that He said in Mattthew 19:14 …suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me; for of such is the kingdom of heaven. 

Please enjoy the following article which you could share with the children in your churches or Sunday Schools.  

Have a Blessed Week!  John 

Christians Are Like Sheep

 

Hello to God's little lambs and the sheep of His pasture.

In the 23rd Psalm, David writes about the Lord being his Shepherd. We are so much like sheep, it's amazing. When sheep have a good shepherd (as Jesus is ours), they do very well. When sheep have a shepherd who does not give them the best care, they have many troubles.

Let's see how we are like sheep.

~ Sheep cannot take care of themselves. They need to be given proper care every day.  We need to keep close to Christ every day and there we will receive the best care. Very often we forget to be near to God and then we experience problems; sometimes they are small, but many times they are big.

~ A sheep farmer must put his own special mark on his sheep. He does this by cutting a certain design into the ear of each sheep. I'm sure this is not a pleasant task, but it makes the farmer feel a great responsibility for his sheep. They are his and no one can mistake them. God knows each of you His children and He has set His mark on you. Jesus says He is the Shepherd of the sheep and He would lay His life down for us. We know that He did give His life for us on the cross.

~ A shepherd will go to great lengths for his sheep. He will do whatever needs to be done for his sheep all day long, and all night long, too. A shepherd sleeps lightly (as a mother does with her children, ready to hear their needs of the night) and he hears his sheep if they have a need in the night. Jesus never slumbers or sleeps as He is always looking out for each of His children—His sheep and lambs.

~ A good shepherd gives his sheep the best food, in grains, fields for grazing, and clean water. Sheep will not drink fast-flowing water. They prefer the water to be calm. Our good Shepherd Jesus does the same for us. He wants us to be taken care of well. We shall not be in need of anything when Jesus is in our life.

~ Sheep will not lie down and rest if they are troubled by bugs or if they are hungry. They are very restless. When a Christian has sin in their life, that person will not be at peace. I pray that we will always hunger to learn more of our Shepherd. That is a good hunger.

~ Sheep need special oils put all over their heads to ward off disease from flies and other insects that give them much discomfort. We need the anointing of the Holy Spirit daily to keep our minds on Jesus. When we have the Holy Spirit, we can keep the devil away. He will always try to bother us, just as flies that will constantly trouble sheep.

~ Sheep have a tendency to follow one another. If a naughty sheep finds a way out of its pasture, the other sheep will follow. This is much like people. If someone is with their friends and is doing wrong, very often the friends follow along and do not correct the wrong. We must be careful to avoid this.

~ A farmer always leads his sheep; he does not chase them or beat them from behind. Often he will have a dog to help him to make sure everyone follows. There are times when a naughty sheep tries to run away and needs to be brought back. This is a picture of God's children following the Lord our Shepherd, and the ones who leave the flock because of temptations to do things that take us away from Jesus.

~A good shepherd provides good shelter for his sheep during bad weather and for the winter months. Our Good Shepherd Jesus is our shelter from the storms or tough times in life. We can go to Him in prayer and be comforted and feel His protection.

~Sheep are some of the dumbest animals on earth. I am not saying you children are dumb! What I am getting at is this: sheep need full time care and keeping to do well, and so do people. We always need to be guided back to what is right. If we do wrong, we learn lessons the hard way. We have to always deal with our mind that thinks to do or say many things. Our mind can think not-so-good thoughts and it can also think many good thoughts. We need our mind to go through each day; this is a gift from God. We so badly need Jesus to lead us in our thoughts and actions to stay in the "green pastures" that He would have for us. I pray that you children will listen to your Shepherd Jesus and let Him lead you on your journey of life. He will never lead you on a wrong path, but always the RIGHT ones.

Thus shall they know that I the LORD their God am with them, and that they, even the house of Israel, are my people, saith the Lord GOD. And ye my flock, the flock of my pasture, are men, and I am your God, saith the Lord GOD. Ezekiel 34:30-31

I pray that God will protect your minds and bodies from sin and harm as each of you children go to school. Do your best; you'll be blessed.

We Are God's Work

Dear Weekly Readers! I am traveling throughout the United States visiting different churches here and sharing about how God is working around the world. I will also be attending our annual Foreign Mission Board meeting at the end of this week. Therefore, I’m still away from the office and may not be able to reply to your emails. Please enjoy this week's article by Jay Weidner! May God Bless your week!  John "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." (Ephesians 2:8-10)   We are God's work. It can't be us who works to gain our salvation because it is He as the sole worker. He is the One who has worked it in us. It is not works, because we are His workmanship. That's one of the most comforting things in all of the Scripture. We can't yet see it or understand it. We look at ourselves in the mirror, and we see so often that we have not done everything that we should. We see so many things we've done that we wish we hadn't. We look at ourselves and examine ourselves, and we grow more frail and weak. We seek and hope and long for improvement, and we don't see any. But we don't realize we aren't our own workmanship. Paul offers this comfort: "It isn't of our works. It's entirely by God's grace." He has wrought us. He has made us anew. If we could see right, and we looked in a mirror, and we had a mirror that could reveal the work of God, when we looked in that mirror all we would see is what God sees—the finished work of His Son. Then we would really understand, "By grace are ye saved." By grace.   Pastor Jay Weidner

Dear Weekly Readers,

Please pray for safe travels as the entire Foreign Mission board of the ALCA and I travel to western USA for our yearly Foreign Mission planning meeting.  This year we are also having services in conjunction with the meetings.  Pray that God’s Word would be proclaimed and revealed by the power of the Holy Spirit.  

May God Bless your week, and enjoy the following article.   John R.

Removing the Veil

G OD IS SO VASTLY WONDERFUL, so utterly and completely delightful that He can, without anything other than Himself, meet and overflow the deepest demands of our total nature, mysterious and deep as that nature is. Such worship (of God) can never come from a mere doctrinal knowledge of God. Hearts that are "fit to break" with love for the Godhead are those who have been in the Presence and have looked with opened eye upon the majesty of Deity.

Men of the breaking hearts had a quality about them not known to or understood by common men. They habitually spoke with spiritual authority. They had been in the Presence of God and they reported what they saw there. The Church waits for the tender voice of the saint who has penetrated the veil and has gazed with inward eye upon the Wonder that is God. And yet, thus to penetrate, to push in sensitive living experience into the holy Presence, is a privilege open to every child of God.

With the veil removed by the rending of Jesus' flesh, with nothing on God's side to prevent us from entering, why do we tarry without? Why do we consent to abide all our days just outside the Holy of Holies and never enter at all to look upon God? We hear the Bridegroom say, "Let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice and thy countenance is comely." We sense that the call is for us, but still we fail to draw near, and the years pass and we grow old and tired in the outer courts of the tabernacle. What doth hinder us?

T HE ANSWER USUALLY GIVEN, simply that we are "cold," will not explain all the facts. There is something more serious than coldness of heart, something that may be back of that coldness and be the cause of its existence. What is it? What but the presence of a veil in our hearts? a veil not taken away as the first veil was, but which remains there still shutting out the light and hiding the face of God from us. It is the veil of our fleshly fallen nature living on, unjudged within us, uncrucified and unrepudiated. It is the close-woven veil of the self-life which we have never truly acknowledged, of which we have been secretly ashamed, and which for these reasons we have never brought to the judgment of the cross. It is not too mysterious, this opaque veil, nor is it hard to identify. We have but to look in our own hearts and we shall see it there, sewn and patched and repaired it may

be, but there nevertheless, an enemy to our lives and an effective block to our spiritual progress.

This veil is not a beautiful thing and it is not a thing about which we commonly care to talk, but I am addressing the thirsting souls who are determined to follow God, and I know they will not turn back because the way leads temporarily through the blackened hills. The urge of God within them will assure their continuing the pursuit. They will face the facts however unpleasant and endure the cross for the joy set before them. So I am bold to name the threads out of which this inner veil is woven. It is woven of the fine threads of the self-life, the hyphenated sins of the human spirit. They are not something we do, they are something we are, and therein lies both their subtlety and their power. Self is the opaque veil that hides the Face of God from us. It can be removed only in spiritual experience, never by mere instruction.

As well try to instruct leprosy out of our system. There must be a work of God in destruction before we are free. We must invite the cross to do its deadly work within us. We must bring our self-sins to the cross for judgment. We must prepare ourselves for an ordeal of suffering in some measure like that through which our Savior passed when He suffered under Pontius Pilate.

L ET US REMEMBER: when we talk of the rending of the veil we are speaking in a figure, and the thought of it is poetical, almost pleasant; but in actuality there is nothing pleasant about it. In human experience that veil is made of living spiritual tissue; it is composed of the sentient, quivering stuff of which our whole beings consist, and to touch it is to touch us where we feel pain. To tear it away is to injure us, to hurt us and make us bleed. To say otherwise is to make the cross no cross and death no death at all. It is never fun to die. To rip through the dear and tender stuff of which life is made can never be anything but deeply painful. Yet that is what the cross did to Jesus and it is what the cross would do to every man to set him free.

Let us beware of tinkering with our inner life in hope ourselves to rend the veil. God must do everything for us. Our part is to yield and trust. We must confess, forsake, repudiate the self-life, and then reckon it crucified. But we must be careful to distinguish lazy "acceptance" from the real work of God. We must insist upon the work being done. We dare not rest content with a neat doctrine of self-crucifixion. That is to imitate Saul and spare the best of the sheep and the oxen.  Insist that the work be done in very truth and it will be done. The cross is rough, and it is deadly, but it is effective. It does not keep its victim hanging there forever. There comes a moment when its work is finished and the suffering victim dies.

After that is resurrection glory and power, and the pain is forgotten for joy that the veil is taken away and we have entered in actual spiritual experience the Presence of the living God. ~

A.W. Tozer

Dear Weekly Readers! 

We pray you are having a blessed week!  Please enjoy this article written by Pastor Ron Holmgren.

 

Spirit and Truth

God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship
him in spirit and in truth. (John 4:24)

THROUGHOUT THE AGES MAN HAS performed acts of worship. He has built temples and altars to his god or gods. He has offered sacrifices and tried to worship correctly. It is no different today. All around the world there are acts of worship being performed at all hours of the day.

Jesus is in conversation with a Samaritan woman in the text we have before us. She was not like Him or "His people" in her acts of worship. She challenged Him with the history of her people and His and where they worshiped. So the two places were to be examined as to which was the correct one for worship. Jesus tells her plainly,

Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. (John 4:22)

There was no question as to who was correct when it came to the challenge set before Him. The Jew! The ones who had the promises and the temple and the altar, etc.

 

But now Jesus turns her thoughts away from the past and points to a future that was to come and was in fact dawning now in Him. Things were to change dramatically, and in the coming time worship would take on a completely different form. The temple would be destroyed and Jew would worship alongside Gentile as one. They would worship the Father in the same way even though the outward acts might look different.

T HE TRUE WORSHIP Jesus was talking about was, in fact, the same as it had always been. Although the Jews had all the things outwardly correct, it was not enough. They would only truly worship if they did so "in spirit and truth."

The two nouns are joined and cannot stand alone. Spirit and truth! There is such a thing as genuine worship and it centers in the one who worships in spirit. As Paul writes in Romans 1:9: For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son… And also he tells us in the 8^th chapter, verse 14: For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. So we do worship in spirit!

But that is not to be the only thing we look for in our worship, for to do so is to be deceived. And so Jesus says worship in spirit and truth! We should not try to explain this away as some special kind of revelation beyond the limits of our minds. Jesus is speaking to an ordinary woman. And she would receive His words in the plainest way. It is simple truth as the Word (the Bible) presents it. The great chapter in Corinthians about love confirms this when it says that charity rejoices in the truth! (1 Corinthians 13:6)

If we are not in spirit our worship becomes formalism and ritual. And likewise, without the truth of the doctrine of our Lord, our worship becomes an abomination of our own fanciful imaginations. God protect us from this and lead us in the way of righteousness for His name's sake. ~

God So Loved the World

Dear Weekly Readers!

The children are back in school here in the USA after having over 2 months off for the summer vacation.  I have decided to share the verse that is perhaps the most popular verse in the Bible, maybe a very simple verse that children can understand, but a verse that is so very meaningful and powerful that this short article or even a full sermon could not begin to reach in fullness what this verse contains.

May God Bless your Week!   John R.

 

John 3:16:    “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  Martin Luther has described this verse as “The Bible in Miniature.”  There are so many heavenly truths contained in this verse.

Here are just a few of these.

“For God”   By this statement we see a definite declaration of The DIVINE!  FOR GOD.  This is just a factual matter, no room for debate.  The Bible never tries to prove the existence of God.  The Bible starts out by saying, “In the beginning God….”  When reading the Bible, man is brought face to face with the declaration that God exists.  Man must either accept or reject that fact.  The God the Bible speaks about is the one True God.  Ever present, all powerful, sovereign, all knowing, the God of Love, the God who has Grace, Mercy, and Wrath. God who is Righteous, Supreme, Immutable, and Eternal.   This is of whom the FOR GOD statement is referring.

These first two words leave no room for doubt of the meaning of the following words because God Said them.

“so loved the world”  How much did He love the world?  SO very much that He gave His only begotten Son.   This is the supreme demonstration of divine love.   What an amazing act of Love.   God gave His Son.  Why?  Because He is God.  No one could have forced Him to give His Son, because no one has power over God.   God gave His Son.  And Jesus gave His life willing for His friends.   For you and me, the sinners, who are part of the world that God Loved so much. 

“that whosoever”  This tells us of the reach of God’s Salvation plan. This is the greatest invitation!  God loves His created beings, and wants them reunited with Him!  God created all, but yet He does not look at us as one great mass of humanity, but rather as individuals that He loves, and who He wants to know personally, and to whom He wants to give every opportunity to be saved.

“believeth in him should not perish”   When a person is humbled, repents and believes the Word of God, the Gospel of Jesus Christ by faith, putting full belief in Him, then one shall have the greatest deliverance.  Only then, because of faith in HIM!   Under no other circumstances can one avoid the fact that all will perish without HIM.  God said it, it is so!

“but have everlasting life.”    The “but” represents the greatest of all possible differences.  Heaven or Hell.   Joy, Peace and Bliss, or damnation and suffering.   The “Have” represents the greatest certainty. The believer will HAVE everlasting life!   What a joy it is to be In Jesus.  To Have everlasting life. Not because of what I have done, but because of Who He is and What He has done!

Lord, allow us to Believe in Him all the days of our lives!  We want to be with Thee in Heaven for ever and ever! 

Amen, 

John Ruotsala

 

 

Sing, O Barren

Dear Weekly Readers!

The book of Isaiah is such a wonderful and powerful book!  Many of my favorite chapters in the Bible are found in this book.  Some of these are Chapters 6, 12, 40, 53, 55, 61 to name just a few!  The entire Bible is for all ages!  It will never grow old fashioned or out of date!

 

May God Bless your week! John R.

Please enjoy the below daily writing by Charles Spurgeon. 

 

"Sing, O barren."—Isaiah 54:1.

THOUGH we have brought forth some fruit unto Christ, and have a joyful hope that we are "plants of His own right hand planting," yet there are times when we feel very barren. Prayer is lifeless, love is cold, faith is weak, each grace in the garden of our heart languishes and droops. We are like flowers in the hot sun, requiring the refreshing shower. In such a condition what are we to do? The text is addressed to us in just such a state. "Sing, O barren, break forth and cry aloud."

But what can I sing about? I cannot talk about the present, and even the past looks full of barrenness. Ah! I can sing of Jesus Christ. I can talk of visits which the Redeemer has aforetimes paid to me; or if not of these, I can magnify the great love wherewith He loved His people when He came from the heights of heaven for their redemption. I will go to the cross again. Come, my soul, heavy laden thou wast once, and thou didst lose thy burden there. Go to Calvary again.

Perhaps that very cross which gave thee life may give thee fruitfulness. What is my barrenness? It is the platform for His fruit-creating power. What is my desolation? It is the black setting for the sapphire of His everlasting love. I will go in poverty, I will go in helplessness, I will go in all my shame and backsliding, I will tell Him that I am still His child, and in confidence in His faithful heart, even I, the barren one, will sing and cry aloud.

Sing, believer, for it will cheer thine own heart, and the hearts of other desolate ones. Sing on, for now that thou art really ashamed of being barren, thou wilt be fruitful soon; now that God makes thee loath to be without fruit He will soon cover thee with clusters. The experience of our barrenness is painful, but the Lord's visitations are delightful. A sense of our own poverty drives us to Christ, and that is where we need to be, for in Him is our fruit found.

 

Tithing

Dear Weekly Readers! 

God’s Peace be with you all!  This week in our article will address and item that many churches in our age seem to focus on quite a lot.  Let us be in Prayer that Jesus would be the reason and object of our worship, letting nothing else get in the way!

May God Bless your week.  John R.

Is Christianity Dying?

No topic excites many pastors more than tithes and tithing. Waxing eloquent, pastors with fiery zeal, would teach about how if you pay tithes God would bless you. How your business would flourish, how you would find that rich husband and how all would go well in your life. Blessings would flow like the Jordan River and life would be a bed of hibiscus petals. Conversely, you are also threatened and psychologically terrorized for not paying tithes- there would be no breakthroughs in your life, God would take away from you. Nothing would go well for you. Worst of all, you would be cursed by God because you have stolen from Him. Like the mighty spear of Goliath, Malachi 3:10 is launched at your heart.

"Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. But you ask, 'How do we rob you?' In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse - the whole nation of you - because you are robbing me." (Malachi 3:8, 9)

This verse has been used to intimidate many Christians into shelling out 10% of their income as tithes. It is probably the only verse in the Bible that many pastors quote when preaching about tithes. Other verses in Leviticus and Deuteronomy that shed more light on the issue are almost never mentioned. Church members are kept in the dark by design.

Was God rebuking the nation of Israel or the nation of Levitical priests in Malachi? Malachi 2:1, explains further, "And this commandment is for you, O priests." God was actually rebuking the Levites for abusing the trust of the people. They were not fairly using the tithes for the poor and needy. God is a spirit and does not need food but He wanted the poor to be fed. The Levites were the ones under a curse.

Who received tithes?

Tithe was God’s way of specifically taking care of the orphans, widows, strangers and poor Levites in Israel. This was the only reason God wanted food in his house. God does not need food. Deuteronomy 26:12, clearly states that when all the tithe is collected “then you shall give it to the Levite, to the stranger to the orphan, and to the widow, that they may eat in your towns and be satisfied.” Deuteronomy 14:28-29 (NIV) "bring all the tithes of that year’s produce and store it in your towns, so that the Levites (who have no allotment or inheritance of their own) and the foreigners, the fatherless and the widows who live in your towns may come and eat and be satisfied, and so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands."

Without tithes, the message of the Gospel could not be preached

God in His infinite wisdom asked for tithes to be used for the poor and needy. God did not request tithes to be used for pastor's salary, cars, church organ or choir robes. God explicitly said use it to feed the poor Levites and the orphans, widows and strangers. Tithes were NEVER paid in money, always food.

God does not need tithes to spread His word. The apostles gave their lives to spread the gospel of Christ without taking tithes from anyone. Many churches function perfectly today without tithes. We cannot disobey God with the excuse that we are spreading the gospel.

Even if you are poor, unemployed and struggling financially, now is the time to pay your tithes.

Nooooo!!! This is twisting and misquoting the Bible because we want to take money from the poor. The Bible says do not take tithes from the poor and needy. The poor are to benefit from the tithes. They are to be given tithes. Telling the poor to pay tithes, with promises that God would open the windows of heaven and pour blessings on them is a big con game.

The Bible says those with less than ten goats or sheep were exempted from paying tithes. God did not take tithes from the poor. Telling the poor and needy that if they don't pay tithes God has cursed them is the ultimate in greed and callousness. Some pastors tell poor church members to pay tithes before their rent or children’s school fees and expect miracles. Some tell the congregation not to worry about what the tithe is used for. They say to just pay the tithes and leave the rest to God.

Would paying tithes make you rich and prosperous?

The promise of breakthroughs and prosperity and material blessings is used as a bait to make many pour their hard-earned money into the bank accounts of some pastors. This is nothing but manipulation. If the gospel of Christ is about acquiring earthly possessions how come the apostle Paul was not rich? How come John the Baptist, Peter, John and the other apostles did not get financial breakthroughs? Many of Christ's apostles were persecuted and killed. Life was not rosy for them. Were they not blessed men of God? If you believe pastors who tell you that you would prosper financially if you pay tithes, then you need serious Bible study. People like Oprah Winfrey, Ted Turner, LeBron James etc. are very wealthy, but they do not pay tithes, they are not even Christians. If you believe paying tithes would open gates to riches for you, then you are in for great disappointment and cannot carry the cross of Christ.

Should I give to my church?

Yes, absolutely! Give to the church. Your offering helps the church a lot. Paul spoke about supporting the church. But give from your heart to God and expect nothing in return. Give because you love God. It is free-will, not a binding law like tithing. God had a special purpose for the tithes. It was to feed the poor and needy in society. It was to take care of the Levites who were poor, not wealthy pastors who have mansions, fancy cars and are far richer than most in the congregation.

Who is killing the church of Christ?

It is unlawful and unbiblical for anyone outside of the tribe of Levi to receive tithes, be they prophets, bishops, arch-bishops or reverend-doctors. Tithe has become the yoke around many Christians’ neck. When the clergy enslaves the masses and amass wealth at the expense of the poor it creates a history of resentment against the church. Many thinking people become suspicious of religion. When leaders of a faith insult the trust of their flock with misinformation and manipulation, the backlash can be unfavorable to all. The gospel of Christ suffers when boys are molested by clergy just as when money becomes their main focus.... Are our pastors robbing God, are they killing the church of Christ?

Rev. F. Frimpong

 
Note: This article is a shortened version of an article published on GhanaWeb.com. To read the full article, click here: http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=278494