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A WORD ON THE HOLY SPIRIT

A WORD ON THE HOLY SPIRIT          I was chatting with a dear friend today, and she reminded me of the incredible ministry that is available to all Christians through the Holy Spirit.   Growing up in a denomination that didn’t teach very much on the Holy Spirit, I really had no idea what His purpose of function was.          First of all, the Holy Spirit is a person , not a force or a power and we should address Him as “He” and not ‘it’ or some other non-personal term.   He is the third person of the Triune God, and as such, has every bit as much power, authority and glory as do the Father and the Son.          When I end my daily devotions, I end with the phrase, “For thine is the Kingdom, the power and the glory forever and ever, Amen!”   I acknowledge the greatness and glory of the Father – the All-wise Creator and Designer of everyth...
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THE IMPORTANCE OF FELLOWSHIP

   “And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.”  (NKJV - Heb 10:24-25)         “Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near. (NLT -Heb 10:24-25)         My dear brothers and sisters, the Lord has been laying on my heart many of those in our Fellowship who have not been around lately, or who attend church very sporadically.  Everyone is busy and has reasons why it is difficult to ‘make’ church on a regular basis.  But to the Lord, our attendance is very high on His priority list.  There are many reasons for this.  ...
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CITIZENS OF HEAVEN

CITIZENS OF HEAVEN I am walking through a lush green field, looking at the beauty of the mountains and streams in the distance.  I am in a crowd in New York City waiting hungrily for my delicious looking slice of pizza to be served to me so I can sink my teeth into it.  I am holding my beloved 12 string Ovation guitar playing and singing praises to the Lord.  I am helping my mother and father get some food ready for the big family dinner.  I am camping with my precious wife and children at our favorite camping spot in Vermont – our new camper all dressed up and made ‘homey’ by Doreen. Then, I begin to slowly slide upward from the depths of some nether world and begin to ‘feel’ my body lying in bed.  I suddenly realize that I have something ‘stuck’ in my throat.  For some strange reason, my mouth is burning.  I slowly open my eyes and – more burning – and I don’t see any of the things that I was just beholding.  My mouth still waters for that s...
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B.U.S.Y

B.U.S.Y. Bondage Under Satan’s Yoke This message has been on my heart for some time to write. But now is the time that I have found inspiration to write it, so I am trusting that this is the Lord’s timing and will. Most of us find ourselves so busy that we hardly know what we should do next, so we just ‘fall’ into the next thing to try to get everything done. Very few of us are disciplined enough to run our lives based on an actual ‘schedule’ that we stick to ‘religiously’. I do know only one or two people in the WORLD that are able to do this – and they do it religiously. At the end of this message, I’m going to let you in on an imaginary ‘conference’ that Satan had with his demons to discuss ways to render Christians ineffective for Christ. A ‘fruitless’ Christian is a ‘useless’ Christian. The greatest lesson that the Lord needed to teach me in this regard involves two things: 1) Learning how to set my ‘limits’, and 2) learning how to say “No” when asked to help out or do thi...
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Pornography

PORNOGRAPHY Pornography is one of the most pernicious and vile evils to enter the hearts and minds of mankind. It is not new in fact, it is one of Satan’s most effective tools in bringing both men and women down since the beginning of history. Though most men (and women) will not acknowledge this, pornography is very addicting and once the ‘habit’ of viewing it regularly has begun, it is VERY difficult to stop without the power of a repentant heart and the Holy Spirit. It is a two sided evil that affects both men and women, both perpetrator and victim. It is by far a more serious problem with men, but women are by no means exempt from this demon’s talons. God meant from the beginning that one man and one woman should come together in marriage, and the act of sexual intimacy should be exercised only within that context. But, as Satan so often does, the ‘counterfeit’ to God’s gift to man – sexual intimacy – was brought to bear in the form of pornography. In earliest recorded his...
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Baptism

           Jesus commanded His followers shortly before His ascension, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you.” (Matt 28:19..)   This is precisely what the disciples did after the coming of the Holy Spirit (see Acts 2:41; 8:12,38; 9:18, 10:48; 16:15, 33; 18:8).   The challenge of Peter was, “Repent and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ (Acts 2:38).   It would seem that as the apostles preached the Gospel and as people responded, they were immediately baptized.   Thus, repentance, faith and baptism are very closely related.   Clearly, though, baptism does not contribute to one’s salvation, it rather follows immediately in obedience to Jesus’ teaching.   Cornelius was baptized after having received the Holy spirit (Acts 10:44-48).   ...
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